The prophecy of the four
by Poly-chan
Summary: As the people of the Enchanted Forest are back to their original home, facts bring up an old prophecy. Is it true? How would it affect the lives of Belle and Neal, Snow and Aurora, Emma and Henry? Swanfire, Rumbelle, mentions to Snowing and Philora.
1. The prophecy

_So, no new episodes of Once and my mind kind of wanders. I got this crazy little idea and decided to give it a try. Tell me what you think._**  
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><p>"Hey, did you hear Snow's announcement at all? I didn't see you at dinner tonight." Belle asked as she saw Neal entering the common room that was located between their two separate rooms on Snow and Charming's Castle.<p>

"I was helping the dwarfs with the fortification, we are almost finished with the north wall." Neal answered, taking off his cape. "I snatched some bread from the kitchen. What was the announcement about?"

"They are expecting a baby." Belle said, a little smile on her face.

Neal froze on place. Back in Neverland, Snow had said she wanted another child. But that was before body swappings and Pan's curse. He wondered how Emma would fell about that, how she would feel if she was there.

He tried to smile, for Belle's sake.

"Wow, that is great. I will congratulate them later."

"Neal, you don't need to pretend to be happy. The whole situation is awkward, but it is not like they planned it like this. They are not trying to replace Emma, you know?"

"No, of course not." he said, sitting by her side on the couch. Their relationship had grown close on the last months in a surprisingly natural way. They took care of each other, and they were there for each other in the hardest moments. And, even if Belle was technically younger than Neal, he discovered she had all the authority to act like a real stepmother to him sometimes.

He looked at her, finally smiling.

"That makes two of you, huh? That is good, my little brother or sister will have someone to play with." Belle's pregnancy was a surprise to her, and just another moment were Neal had been there for her. It was still a touchy subject and they hadn't told anyone else yet, but Neal was trying to bright her mood about that.

"Actually, three." Belle said, remembering Aurora, her expanded belly showing everybody what Snow's and Belle's weren't showing yet. "Oh my, the three of us!"

"You can open a mother-to-be club. Knit socks and things like that." Neal said, not looking at her, so he didn't see the wonder and surprise on her expression.

"Is there anyone else who announced a pregnancy?"

"Not that I am aware of, unless Regina is hiding the game. She does have been spending a lot of time with Hood." Neal said, finally looking at his stepmother. "What are you thinking about?"

"I don't know, I remembered something, but it may be just a coincidence."

"Belle, you knew my father pretty well to learn that what he said is true. There is no such thing as coincidences. What are you thinking about?"

"There was this prophecy... but it talked about four kids, not three."

"Which prophecy?"

To Neal's surprise, Belle looked down, sheepishly.

"While I was living with your father on the Dark Castle, I overheard some things... talks he had, with others and with himself."

Neal nodded, an expression on his face that translated, he hoped, as `I am not judging you`.

"I saw him having this kind of premonition twice, but I don't think he knew about that. His body would go still and he would whisper weird words, that gave me the chills. That's why I remember clearly about this one, the one about four kids."

"How did it go?"

"It talked about four kids, born from four different mothers but around the same time. They would be born during hard times and once united, they would help to open the path to a new, more peaceful era."

"Four kids. Is there anything else you remember?"

"I am not sure I remember the whole thing. But there was a little piece that didn't make sense until now." Belle said, realization filling her face. "They would be the sons of hope and the daughters of light and darkness."

Neal stared at her, his forehead wrinkled in thinking. But Belle had been thinking about that for way longer than he had.

"Aurora and Snow would be the hope. Aurora, that was left on this bare land but found her way back to her Prince that, she thought, was lost forever. And Snow, that almost didn't come home with David because of the dreamshade. After everything they went through, they still have the hope of a better future."

Neal nodded, thinking that made sense.

"Then we have left..."

"The daughters of light and darkness." Belle said, lightly touching her belly. "This one is, for sure, the daughter of darkness."

"But who would be the daughter of light?"

Belle looked up at him, and Neal couldn't understand the stare that carried something close to compassion, directed to him.

"I have a guess, but you need to tell me if it is possible."

Neal felt his stomach drop. What now?

"Do you remember how the first curse was crafted, Neal?" she asked, reaching his hand to touch it. "It was planned by the Dark One, who knew the Savior would break it. But he didn't know what would lead the Savior to break it."

"It was Henry." Neal said in a whisper, the aching on his chest growing as he remembered his son.

"Yes, Henry. The product of the union between the Savior and the Son of the Dark One. Light and Dark."

"Would Henry be the fourth kid?"

"No." Belle said, pressing his hand in hers. "Henry already has his own destiny as the True Believer. I am talking about another kid, that would be born in the next year. Another kid from the Savior."

Neal finally understood were Belle was going with her thinking. She was showing a knowledge about magic that impressed him, and he was afraid she was right.

"I am sorry to ask this, Baelfire." she said, so caught up in the moment that she ended up calling him by the name she originally knew him by. "Do you know if that would be possible? If Emma... saw someone on the last months before we parted ways?"

Neal dropped his head, letting go of Belle's hand to sustain his head. She put a hand on his back instead, seeing the pain on his expressions.

"Was it Hook? I didn't..."

"No, it is not that!" Neal interrupted her, not wanting to have any mental images. "Emma was not with anyone like this, not since Pan got Henry."

"Then I may be mista..."

"It was before." Neal said, his head still down. "It was before all this Neverland crap, when we were still in Storybrooke, when Greg and Tamara were still around."

Belle waited. She felt like there were old unsolved issues on that, and, if Neal didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't push him to. Even if she really wanted to know if her theory was right. But he kept talking.

"It was one night, and it was wrong, since technically I was still with Tamara, even if she was fooling me. Man, an honorable person wouldn't do that, and I know it. I had this little fight with Tamara because I was beginning to buy what Emma was feeding me, so she got angry with me and threatened to leave, and I was miserable, and Emma showed up wanting to talk about the past..."

His words came out in a rush, and Belle began to make small circles on his back with her hand. He was trying to justify himself.

"It was hard to deal with my dad, or the fact I had a kid I didn't know until then, or that Emma was back and I still loved her, it was all too much. So I asked her... I asked her if we could forget everything for a little while, and just... just be ourselves, you know? No Savior or Son of the Dark One, just Neal and Emma, the two idiots that stole cars and had fun with each other."

"We did that, we shared old stories and a bottle of Jack, and we laughed until our bellies hurt, and we teased each other. I just wanted to be silly with her again, be young, with not a fuck in the world. But at some point things went farther, and none of us tried to stop it. But we did try to forget on the next day. We never discussed it since then."

He was silent now and Belle was still trying to soothe him. For a moment she forgot about her theory or anything else, focusing on the man that looked, more than ever, like a lost boy.

"I am not judging you, and I think you shouldn't either. I think you knew, deep in your heart, that Tamara meant nothing."

"I felt so bad afterwards. I cheated on my fiancee."

"Things happen for a reason." Belle said.

"Yeah, and this makes me angry, you know? It looks like all the moves in my life are planned and I am nothing but a pawn. A pawn to whom happiness is not allowed."

"That is not true, sweetheart." Belle said in a soft voice. "Maybe there are prophecies and predetermined destiny, but the way you lead your life, the way you take things, that is something you choose. If my theory is right and the fourth kid is yours and Emma's, then that night should have happened. But the way it happened was your choice. Even if you tell me about it in a low voice with a bowed head, I can see the way your eyes sparkle when you talk about Emma. That night the two of you were one again, were happy and were complete. There is no reason not to believe that will not happen again."

Neal sighed, and his shoulder dropped, like until that moment there was a heavy weigh over them. He tilted his head, laying it on Belle's shoulder, and whispering "Thank you."

She caressed his head, and whispered back "You're welcome."

They stayed for some time like that, both thinking about past and future and what would happen. Neal finally spoke, in a rushed tone.

"Do you really think Emma is pregnant again?"

Belle sighed.

"There is no way to know for sure, Neal. Maybe we should talk to someone that knows more about prophecies than us. Maybe we should tell Regina."

He raised his head.

"No. She may have changed, but I don't totally trust her." He suddenly knew what he needed to do. "I need to find them. I need to find Emma and Henry, and make sure that she is not going through all of it alone again. There is only one thing..."

"What is it?" she asked, as he kept staring at her.

"I don't want to leave _you _alone."

She smiled to him.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. Besides, I have Snow and Charming, Aurora and Phillip and all the others. I will be fine. You should go find your family."

Neal took some seconds to voice what was on his head.

"What if... I can't come back? What if I can't make Emma and Henry remember everything?"

"Then you are going to be happy, Neal. You deserve it, and I know you can find happiness with them."

Neal smiled to her. Belle was turning out to be more his mother than he could remember of his real one ever being.

"Things will work out." he said, finally putting a hand on top of hers, that was resting on her flat stomach. "And I will see you again, and meet my sister."

"Yes, you will."

Words that they both had proffered to loved ones, now were proffered to each other.


	2. How?

_Thank you so much for the response! It is great to know I have people on board with me. :D  
>I had a bit of trouble with this chapter, I rewrote it at least three times. A friend helped me to sort things out tough, so thank you Eduardo!<br>Oh, and a warning - I rated it T for language.  
>That said, I hope you enjoy the chapter.<em>

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 2 - How?<strong>_

Emma woke up to puke. Again. As she flushed the toilet and brushed her teeth, she told herself she needed to go to the doctor. She had been postponing that for some time now, because she had a little guess she knew what was going on, but it couldn't be possible.

"Mom? Did you see my sneakers?" Henry entered her bathroom, his hair mussy from sleep.

"Did you try under the bed, by the front door and on the balcony?"

"The balcony!" the boy whispered, turning around. Emma smiled. He would leave his stuff on the most unpredictable places.

As she changed clothes she thought again about her symptoms. It could be a stomach bug, right? And her late period could be just... stress.

There was no way in hell that she could be pregnant.

Or that's what she thought, because on the next day she was bracing the toilet again, with amazing punctuality. It was what, the fifth day in a row?

She remembered being pregnant with Henry. The situation was different, but the symptoms were the same - nausea early in the morning and again by the end of the afternoon, an annoying headache, and she couldn't even get close to vanilla. They used it in on Thursdays at jail, she remembered well, the sweet smell of it filling the cafeteria and making her sick.

"What are you looking for?" Henry asked, seeing her opening and closing kitchen cabinets.

"Do we have any vanilla extract?"

Henry wrinkled his nose.

"I don't think so."

She was thinking about buying some as a test when the thought of how ridiculous that was hit her. She should just buy a pregnancy test instead.

"Are you ok, Mom?"

"Yeah, I am alright. Do you want some toasts with your eggs?"

"Sure."

Henry was growing fast, and he never denied food. She tried to concentrate on the task of cooking breakfast for the boy, but her mind once more worried. What if she was really pregnant? How was she going to balance a teenager boy and a brand new baby, all by herself?

It had been so hard in the begin. When she left jail all she had was a yellow bug and a tiny, pink faced baby. For some months she wrapped Henry on her old baby blanket – what made people on stores or in the street think he was a girl.

It took her a long time to hold him with confidence, to know exactly why he was crying by the pitch of the whining, and to convince herself that yes, she could be a mom; and no, she was not ruining his life by keeping him.

She had the help of strangers and after some years she had a rented apartment, a job, and money enough to pay for daycare. Out of all that mess Henry had always been with her and that, she thought, was the most important part.

But getting pregnant again? Was she crazy?

The worst part was she couldn't remembered how it had happened. She hadn't been seeing anyone, Henry's father was the last serious relationship she had, more than eleven years ago, and after everything that happened then, she was not interested in getting involved with another person.

There was a party, maybe. Was it when Henry had a camping trip? She remembered sweet, warm lips on hers and the taste of something alcoholic. She remembered a feeling like... home.

"Are you sure you are ok, Mom?" Henry asked as she sat in front of him on the table.

"I will be if you do good in your Math test today." she answered, focusing her attention back on the present. She would deal with the possibility of a baby on her womb later.

**~X~**

Emma denied the idea for one more week, but after she almost fainted at work, scaring her coworkers, she decided she needed to do something.

"You don't look ok, Swan." said her superior, a police officer in his fifties. "It is mid-afternoon, why don't you go home and rest a little?" she preferred to stay and keep her mind busy, but by the way he was looking at her, that was not an option.

She had been transferred to that unity some months ago, but she already liked Sullivan, her superior. He kept everyone in line, but he was also ready to listen to his workers and offer some understanding when needed. He also had a pre-teen boy and they would talk about the little bumps of being a parent to this complicated age.

She had to leave the station. As she got to the street she felt courageous and decided it was time to buy a pregnancy test.

She arrived home half and hour later. Henry was not home yet, he had a rehearsal at drama club and wouldn't be home until the end of the afternoon.

After she took the first test an decided it was wrong, she went back to the drugstore to buy another one. She bought six more and all of them came positive.

She sat on the bathroom floor and the tears finally found their way out. How was it possible? There was a reason she promised herself never to trust a man again. There was a reason she kept her distance of people. Henry was the only person in the world that mattered, and now...

How?

She didn't notice the time passing by and just realized how late it was when she heard the shut of the front door.

"Mom?" she heard Henry calling, probably after seeing her shoes and coat by the door. She stood up, dried her tears, and combed her hair with her fingers. She was not going to let him find her on that mess.

"Hey, baby. Is it six already?"

Henry accepted the hug, but as soon as it ended, he looked at his mom with concern.

"What is wrong?"

She tried not to tear up again.

"Nothing is wrong. I was a little tired, came home earlier so I could take a nap before preparing dinner."

"Mom..." Henry, said, not believing her.

"Ok, I kind of had a bad day at work. But it is fine, I am better now." she said, deciding to prepare dinner just to occupy herself with something. "How was school?"

"It was ok." Henry said, dropping his backpack and looking at her, not totally convinced, but letting the subject be dropped for the time being. "You know the girl I told you about, Andrea? She helped me out with my lines for the play. She is really cool."

"Is she?" Emma asked, wondering if she was about to witness her son's first crush. "Did you memorize all your lines already?"

"Yes. But I think I will have a problem with the sword fight."

"And why is that?"

"As I was training the moves with Andy today, he hit me in the wrist a bunch of times. He can't do it right, and he always end up hitting me."

"Did any of you get hurt?" she asked, stopping chopping a lettuce to look at him.

"My wrist is a little swollen, but I think it is fine." the boy said, pulling up his sleeve to show an ugly bruise on his right wrist.

"Oh, Henry!" she approached him "That is probably going to turn into ten different shades of green, maybe yellow."

"It is a war scar." he said, what made her laugh.

"We should put some ice on it, my warrior. I will get the ice pack." she started to wash her hands to go after it, but Henry was faster.

"It is ok, I will get it." he said, already leaving the room. "It is on the first aid kit, right?"

"Yes." she answered, resuming her chopping, just to freeze the knife in the air some seconds later.

The first aid kit was on her bathroom. And her bathroom also happened to have half a dozen of pregnancy tests, spread everywhere.

Maybe Henry wouldn't see them... Yeah, right! She told herself bitterly. He was going to see and figure it out soon enough.

"Mom?" _really_ soon enough.

He came back, a confused expression and no ice pack in hands.

"Why... why are there so many pregnancy tests in your bathroom?"

She breathed in. She would need to tell him eventually. Better sooner than later.

"Baby, come here."

He obeyed, shock still written on his face.

"I have been feeling weird on the last days."

"You have _been _weird on the last days." the boy added.

"Well, now I know why." she said simply, trying to sound calm, not freaked out.

"So you are... pregnant."

"It looks like I am. I am so sorry Henry, I never planned on any of this happening."

"You are going to have a baby..." the boy repeated, trying to wrap his mind around the concept. Then something occurred to him.

"Who is the father?" he asked, sounding so much older than he actually was "Is the baby going to have one?"

The question broke Emma's heart. He was basically stating – I don't have a father, does my brother or sister has the privilege of having one?

She didn't even know who was the father so she was pretty sure she had the answer.

"It is going to be just the three of us." she said, sadness dripping from her voice. Henry deserved so much more, so much she couldn't give him.

She sat heavily on a stool and sighed. Suddenly she was embraced by Henry's arms, that snapped out of his surprised state by seeing how sad his mom looked.

"It is ok. This baby is going to have an awesome Mom and an amazing and really charming big brother."

Emma laughed, holding him against her chest. Well, he was right. Henry was an amazing boy.

"I am going to have a little brother or sister." he whispered after they parted.

"Do you like the idea?" she asked, a little afraid.

But Henry's smile covered his whole face.

"I always wanted a younger sibling!"

Emma was surprised by that.

"You never told me that."

Henry didn't have the courage to tell her the reason. He always thought they were half a family – like something or someone really important was missing. When he was young, his mom told him that his dad was a fireman and died trying to save a family, so he never really missed him... it is impossible to miss someone you never met. But still, sometimes when he saw big, noisy families in malls or grocery stores, he wondered how it was possible to miss something he never had.

"It was my secret wish." he finally said, happy to see that she was satisfied by the answer, as she went back to cooking.

"Then you have a really powerful mind, Henry. I wonder what other wishes you have in store."

Henry didn't say it, because it was silly. But his biggest wish was to have a real, big, messy family, just like his friends at school had.

Well, he could give it a try, he thought. You never now.

While his mom was concentrated on cooking, her back to him, he closed his eyes and wished with all his might for a family. A big and loving family for him and his future brother or sister.


	3. Nightmares

_I had this chapter ready for some days, but kind of had some busy days and didn't find the time to update. Sorry for the waiting.  
>It was supposed to be a whole chapter from Neal's POV but well... my fingers wrote by themselves and here we are.<br>Thank you for the support. I am always happy to read your opinion. :D_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 3 - Nightmares<strong>_

As Neal approached the castle's gate, he was satisfied to see that the repairs were almost done. They had been working on that for the past month, and had a great reason on doing so. It was not just the ogres they should fear anymore.

"May someone open the gate?" he yelled, hoping there was someone responsible for it.

It looked like there was, since it didn't take a whole minute before the gate was lifted and Neal rushed his horse forward.

"Hey there! A beautiful day, isn't it?"

Neal smiled to Happy, the guard of choice.

"It is, indeed. Were is everyone?"

"Most of them are in the castle, It looks like there was an emergency meeting." the dwarf said, his happy demeanor dropping a little.

"I see. Thank you, Happy."

Neal rode the horse to the stables. He had been out for two weeks, trying to discover more about some rumors he had been hearing from the villagers – some of them had been living in the Enchanted Forest all along, surviving the curse, the ogres and the desolation. He knew he would need to report to Snow and David his findings, but he just hoped he didn't need to report his motifs as well. He was not ready to tell Emma's parents that he might had knocked her up – before she was left by herself and with no memory.

It looked like whichever meeting had been happening, just ended, since a lot of people were coming downstairs as he went up.

He entered the big meeting room with the rounded table and there were still some people lingering around. David was talking to Robin Hood and some of his merryman, and Snow was by his side, but it didn't look like she was paying attention to what was being said. Her eyes were on the opposite window, but she probably heard Neal coming, because she looked in his direction and smiled.

"I am glad you are back." she said, offering him a hug. "Did you make a safe trip?"

"Yes, I did. I have some news."

That caught her attention, as long as David's, that quickly shook Neal's hand and tapped his back.

"I saw a path of destruction a hundred miles from here, almost by the borders of the old dark forest."

"Destruction made by ogres?" Snow asked.

"No, it was something bigger and messier."

"What could be bigger and messier than ogres?" Robin asked with curiosity.

"I don't know, it looked like a tornado passed by there. Some of the trees were thrown around, roots and all."

He saw the quick look that David and Snow exchanged and Neal asked himself what exactly was the emergency meeting about.

"You probably heard the rumors about the witch." Snow stated and Neal nodded. That was the reason that made him leave to investigate in the first place. "They are not rumors anymore. She has been seen."

"What does she want here?" Neal asked, knowing she must had traveled between words to get to the Enchanted Forest. Those were bad news, that woman was never up to something good, but it also brought him some hope. If the Wicked Witch could travel between worlds, so could he.

"We don't know yet. We think she might have business with Regina."

Neal noticed, when Snow mentioned her, that Regina was not there.

"It looks like she had business with Cora." Robin clarified it to him. "We are going back to Regina's old castle to see if we can discover something and get some more weapons. I should check if Regina is ready to leave."

He made a little measure for Snow and David, than shook Neal's hand.

"It was good to see you, man."

And off he went, his men following him.

"What is going to happen if a fight breaks?" Neal asked, worried. He really needed to go back to Emma, but how was he going to leave them behind to a fight?

"We will fight back to defend our people." David guaranteed. "But I would be more worried about a battle involving magic than a physical one.

"We will keep you posted about the whereabouts of it." Snow said. She looked tired. "We are happy you are here to help."

"Actually..." he said, before he could stop himself. He couldn't tell the whole story to them yet, but he couldn't just leave and not tell anyone about it either. "One of the reasons why I took this trip was to find a way to travel between worlds."

Snow and David once more shared a look. They looked sad, but not surprised.

"It didn't take long." David said, putting a hand around Snow. "Are you going after Emma and Henry?"

"As soon as I find a way to leave, Sir." Neal said, suddenly self conscious about the man in front of him being his father-in-law. Oh, and also the king.

"I wish you the best of luck." Snow said softly. "I know you will be able to find them."

"Thank you." He said, and he was about to leave when he remembered something. "If I am successful in leaving, can you promise me something?"

"What is it, Neal?" Snow asked, noticing his wrinkled forehead and worried eyes.

"Can you take care of Belle for me?"

"Don't worry about it at all." David said, smiling. "She will be safe with us."

"Thank you. She is the only family I have besides Emma now, and it really worries me the fact that I can't take care of both of them right now."

"We are all family." Snow guaranteed "And we will take care of each other."

It was hard for Neal to sleep that night. When he did so, it was just to have nightmares. Nightmares were he fell through an infinite portal, or where he found Emma and Henry, but they couldn't see him or feel his touch or hear his voice.

There was no way he could know it, but as he was having nightmares with Emma, in another world Emma was having nightmares with him.

"No! I love you! I need you!"

She woke up with a startle, breathing heavily. She could still see the bright green light, feel the cold wood floor. Neal was gone.

She looked around confused. She was at her apartment in New York. It was just a dream, Neal wasn't there – he had never been.

She decided to get up and have a glass of water. Her hands were shaking.

She stopped by Henry's room, but the boy slept peacefully. She walked to the kitchen, her bare feet feeling good against the cold floor.

That was a really weird dream, but it also felt so real! She could still feel Neal's hand between hers.

She had been thinking a lot about him lately. She was sure it was because of the pregnancy, he was the last man she remembered being with. But at the same time... sometimes she felt like it wasn't that long since she last saw him.

She closed her eyes, trying to shake the thought. Eleven years was a time long enough. She should stop thinking about him, no good would come of it. He was not coming back.

Next day at work she decided to do one thing she never did before – she would do it once, then she could be done and forget everything about her once lover.

It was a slow day at the police station, and as some of her colleagues talked and drank coffee, she sat by her computer and logged in the criminal records system. She put her range on national criminals, then typed Neal Cassidy.

She found nothing.

She tried searching for some states – states where they had been together, or where they talked about going. Besides the case of the watches in Oregon, she found nothing. She smiled. Neal was smarter than that.

She remembered some of the fake names they used and started typing them. It was not until she reached Charlie Scott that she found something.

She was surprised to see a complaint under the state of New York reports. Well, it could always be another Charlies Scott, that was not an unusual name, one of the reasons why he used it.

But as she read the complaint she realized it was his style. Small stealing from a convenience store, he almost fooled the owner but at the last minute other worker came from the bathrooms and stopped him. He was took by the police, spent one night in jail.

That was three years prior.

She rolled down the report, wanting to see the official picture... and the air was suddenly knocked out of her lungs.

There was Neal as she remembered. There were new elements - some white hair around his temples, the begin of wrinkles around his eyes - but it was still Neal.

"Are you ok, Emma?" one of her coworkers was making her way to Emma, noticing her pale face and her surprised expression.

"Yeah." she said, quickly closing the file. "I may need some air though."

She passed by the woman, leaving the police station and sitting by the stairs. Neal was in New York? Well, maybe he was not there anymore, but he had been. They lived in the same city. For how long, who would know.

She felt her head aching. She could remember his voice, his cocky smile, his soft hands on her shoulders. _We are almost home. _She believed him. She thought they could have a home together.

"I have a son..."

"Emma, Henry needs you..."

"I love you. I probably always will..."

Emma braced her head. What was happening? What were all those mental images? She hadn't seen Neal since she went to jail, all those words were imposible, he didn't know he had a son.

Unless...

Did she met him? Did they talk? Was it that day she couldn't figure out, the day Henry went to a camping trip and she got drunk? She couldn't remember, everything was a mess in her head. She tried to focus in one thought, but it was impossible, it was like she was watching a movie by hitting the forward button. Her brain was probably going to make her head split in two at any moment.

It was then that she lost her conscious.


	4. Do I know you?

_It looks like I just have time to write on weekends so the chapters may be posted on a weekly basis, unless I have extra time during the week._

_I was thinking if Emma would really remember things or not and I decided that she wouldn't, at least for now. The fact that she is pregnant, not knowing how, made a little crack on the wall protecting her real memories, but I don't think Regina's magic would be undone just like that. That's my reasoning. Let's see what my mind comes up with from now on. :D_

_So this chapter has a scene I was really excited to write. I hope it ended as good as I thought it could be.  
>Thank you for the support, and keep me telling your opinion, and what you hope to see in this story. :)<br>_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 4 - Do I know you?<strong>_

"_Em? Come on babe, wake up!"_

Emma slowly opened her eyes.

"Maybe we should take her home."

"I think she is waking up."

Emma looked around. She was still at the police station, surrounded by people. But she could swear she heard... She tried to move her head up, to look behind her, but it hurt.

"Take it easy there, Swan. I think you hit your head." said Williams, their coroner. The coroner was telling her to take it easy, that was probably a bad thing at some level.

"How are you feeling?" she saw Sullivan right behind Williams.

"Like I've been on a fight."

"Not that exciting, I think you just fainted."

"What were you doing on the frontal steps, Swan?" Sullivan asked. Emma remembered her headache, her confusing thoughts but that was all. Out of a sudden she was just swallowed by darkness.

"I needed air." she said simply, closing her eyes for some moments and trying to remember the voice... the voice she heard before gaining conscious.

"Is she ok, Williams?" - asked Sullivan, looking at the shorter man.

"Yes, she just needs some rest. We should keep an eye on her though." he answered, turning to her. "You should stay here for some hours, just in case. If you are fine by then, one of us can take you home."

Emma suddenly panicked.

"What time is it? I need to pick Henry up at school!"

"It is four. Mueller is doing that right now, she will probably be back at any minute."

Emma finally relaxed.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Williams, can you give me some time alone with Ms. Swan?" Sullivan said, and the coroner agreed, leaving the room.

Sullivan sat by the coffee table in front of the couch were Emma was lying down. The recreation room was empty, what was something unusual.

"Emma, help me out here." he said in a soft voice, quickly changing the switch, from her superior to a friend. "What is happening?"

She thought about saying that she didn't know. She thought about saying it was nothing. But that was her superior and sooner or later she would need to break the news.

"Sir... I kind of have some news."

"Ok." the older man said, carefully "Am I going to be happy?"

"I don't know. Probably not."

"Just tell me already then."

"I am pregnant." she said, eyes down, like she was ashamed of that.

But Sullivan's voice made her look up.

"That is great news, Emma." if he was surprised, he didn't show up. He was smiling at her, and she remembered how he once told her about finding out his wife was pregnant with their third child, the one they called their little accident.

"Sir..."

"A kid is always a blessing." he said simply, and she didn't know what to answer to that.

Before any of them could say something else, Henry entered the room running.

"Mom? Are you ok? They said you fainted! Is the baby ok?" he was out of breath, and still couldn't stop making questions.

Emma made an effort and sat down so she could hug him.

"I am fine, baby. Everything is fine."

Sullivan smiled, high fiving Henry as a greeting. Then he left the room.

"What happened?" the boy wanted to know.

"Maybe your brother or sister just wanted me to take a nap." she said, smiling. "Is it ok with you if we go home later? The guys want to make sure I am ok."

"Sure."

She messed his hair affectionately. Usually she would complain when people were overprotective with her, even more her coworkers. But that time she was going to be a good girl and give in. The thought of fainting at home and scaring the hell out of Henry made her think that she should listen to Williams.

"I want you to do something for me then. Can you get my laptop and my phone? I need to schedule a doctor's appointment."

"Why?" Henry asked, worried.

"There is nothing wrong, kid. It is just that, when you are going to have a baby, you need to go to the doctor, so he can check if everything is alright and he can prescribe you some vitamins the baby will need." she said, realizing that, by explaining the process to Henry she was getting more comfortable with the idea.

"Oh. And can we know if it is going to be a boy or a girl?"

"I think it is still too early for that. Do you have a preference?"

"Not really. Do you?"

Emma had caught herself, some days before, watching beautiful, colorful little dresses by the window of a shop. She would be glad to have a girl. But she would also be ok with a boy. A little boy just like Henry, so she could call them her boys.

"I think I don't have a preference either."

"What if you have twins? Or triplets?" Henry asked, excited.

"Why would you mention something like that?" she said, a comic horrified expression on her face. "If that happens, I am going to put all of them to sleep in your room!"

That made the boy laugh. She recognized his "I am joking" laugh, so she laughed with him.

As Henry sat down to do homework and Emma finished scheduling her doctor's appointment, her thoughts went back to the one thing her mind had been obsessing over.

She was so sure she heard a soft voice calling her `Em`, right before she woke up. Neal was the only one to ever call her that. Was she dreaming? It was impossible that Williams or Sullivan said those words.

She remembered checking his file earlier. There was a little piece of information still flashing in her memory.

153 Broadway.

She wondered if he still lived in the same place that the file mentioned.

**~X~**

She fought, oh, she fought so hard. She told herself she didn't want to ever see Neal again. She reasoned that two years was a long time for him to stay in the same place. She even told herself she was going nuts and making up things.

But she couldn't suppress the nostalgic feeling she got when she passed by that block of Broadway Street – because she had things to do on that part of town! Sometimes she felt like she had been there before and when she was lying awake on her bed at night she would think, that's it, you met him again, went to his apartment, but got so drunk that can't remember a thing. But on the daylight she couldn't dare to think about that possibility. The daylight made everything real, and those were not realistic thoughts.

But she kept passing in front of his building.

Then, one of those days something different happened. She had had her doctor's appointment that morning, and she felt overwhelmed. She was fine, the baby was healthy, and she even got to hear the little one's heartbeat. As soon as the sound filled the room, she cried and as soon as she left the doctor, she wished she had someone to call and share the good news. Her coworkers were also always asking about it, mentioning that they had toys or clothes or even a crib that their kids outgrow, and that made her feel really good with the perspective of having another kid.

And maybe it was that good disposition that made her, for the first time, enter the number 153 of Broadway Street.

A gate and a intercom with a bunch of numbers. She got closer to the buzzer, taking a look at the names, already expecting to see one of Neal's fake names. She heard someone coming from the street, and got out of the way, moving sideways to keep reading the names by the numbers of apartments.

"Emma?"

She jumped, startled. Emma turned around, looking at the man that called her. There was something familiar about his face, but she couldn't point exactly what. Then man read her confused expression on the wrong way.

"I kind of expected more surprise, dearie. One scream, maybe a relieved smile, a surprised `You are alive!`"

"Do I know you?" that question made him stop. He watched her intently.

"You... You don't remember me?"

"I should?"

Gold was awestruck. Something had happened. First Storybrooke wasn't where it should be. Now Emma didn't remember him. Was his father's curse successful? It couldn't be, or Emma wouldn't be there. Regina knew what to do, maybe...

"Sir? Are you ok?" Emma asked, noticing how pale he suddenly turned.

He nodded with his head, sitting on the bench by the gate. The same bench he sat with Henry when Emma went after Bae, he remembered.

"Is Henry with you?" he asked, worried.

"How do you know about Henry?" Emma asked, alarmed.

Gold tried to calmly ponder the answer. Emma had no memory of him, and probably no memory of anything related to Storybrooke. But apparently she had Henry, what meant she remembered Bae – as Neal, he reminded himself.

"I am Neal's father." he finally said, knowing that, if he wanted to know what happened, he would need to play the game according to the rules. "He told me about you. He has this old picture..."

"In the carnival." Emma said. It was the only picture they had together, she also had a copy.

"Yes, that's it."

"And he told you about Henry?" Emma asked, sounding doubtful.

Gold didn't know if 'yes' was the right answer, but he needed to somehow explain how he knew about the boy, so he nodded. That had an unexpected effect in Emma. She sat on the bench, elbows in her knees and head in her hands.

"Then it is true."

"What is true, dearie?"

"I did see him some months ago."

That was the only way of Neal knowing about Henry. If they had met and, after drinking, Emma told him.

"Do you remember that?"

"I don't! And that's the problem!"

He was going to ask her to explain it better, but she was faster.

"Where is he? Where is Neal?"

"I don't know." he answered honestly. "I made quite a long trip and when I came back, I didn't find him."

Emma remembered one or two things Neal had said about his father, and it wouldn't surprise her if he was hiding from the man.

"I am on his apartment now, I payed the last rents, so when he comes back I will know. The owner said he has been gone for some months now."

Emma nodded her head, in a trance. She wouldn't be able to talk to Neal then. She was relieved, but also a little disappointed.

"I'll give you my number." she finally said, taking a notepad from her pocket. "If he shows up, could you please give me a call?"

Gold agreed and took the note from her hands. He knew that wasn't enough. If his theory was right, the chances of his Bae just showing up there were thin.

"Do you think I could meet Henry?" he asked suddenly.

"I am sorry?"

"Henry, my grandson. You know, I am an old man and I don't have much of a family. I would like to meet the boy."

For some reason Emma felt compelled to trust him. She felt weird towards that man. Like she didn't totally like him, but totally trusted him.

"Yeah, I think I can arrange that. I am sorry, I forgot to ask your name."

"You can call me Mr. Gold."


	5. Family Reunion

_Ok, so this chapter was a little puzzle for me to solve. I realized, by the reviews, that I should explain how Gold is where he is so I added the first scene - I hope my idea makes sense. I also thought it was around time to start the family reunions, so here we go. :D_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 5 - Family Reunion<strong>_

There was pain, then there was darkness, then there was nothing.

When Rumplestiltskin awoke, he was pretty sure he was dead. He expected to be dead, that was the only way to save Belle, Bae and Henry – by taking his and his father's life.

He found out that he couldn't move and that the light was so bright that he could barely see. He stayed in the same position, lying down on his back, and wondered. If he was dead, why did his body hurt so much?

After some time of dozing off and waking up he stayed awake for long enough to realize a low buzz on the background. He concentrated on the noise... and it sounded like cars. He payed more attention. Cars and people and horns, the sounds of a big city.

He touched the ground under him and it felt cold and smooth. He touched his own chest. It was raising rhythmically, just like the beatings of his heart.

Rumpelstiltskin wasn't dead.

Then where was him?

He tried to look around. A really bright light came from his right side. He slightly turned to the other side. His whole body protested and he braced his bad leg. The worst pain was coming from there. His eyesight was getting better now that he was not staring at the bright light and suddenly he recognized the small room, the light walls and the wooden floor.

He was at his son's apartment in New York.

He hold himself up in an elbow, trying to understand how he ended up there.

Then, as a reminder, pain shot through his right leg.

The spell... the spell he casted so long ago, as a precaution, and thought would never need to use. It was back at the Enchanted Forest, after loosing Bae. He decided that, if someday something happened and he was not the Dark One anymore, the only place in the world were he would like to be was with his son. So he casted this spell connecting Bae's life to his, making it possible that, if someday he was left with no magic, his body would be transported to where Bae should be.

That meant that the Dark One was dead. But not Rumpelstiltskin.

He managed to sit down. Why was he at this apartment in New York? It didn't look like Bae went back there, even the lamp that was knocked down in the confusion to leave for Storybrooke the day that he was poisoned by Hook was still down.

He was still confused as why he didn't die. He was brought there for a reason, but why? Where were Bae and Belle? And how was he going to find them?

**~X~**

As Emma was lying in bed she thought about what was going to happen on the next months. Her body had started to change already, and soon it would take so much more effort to do the day to day things. Her boss had guaranteed she would have her leave to have the baby, and she was thankful for the break, but she asked herself how she was going to cope in the first days. Henry would still be having classes, she would need to wake him up in the morning, cook for him and help with homework, all of that at the same time as taking care of a newborn baby. She wouldn't be able to walk him to the bus stop though, and she had the impression the kid was going to be really happy about that.

And then there was Mr. Gold, Neal's father. She asked herself were Neal got the last name `Cassidy` if it wasn't his father's. Was it his mother's? Emma never heard him say anything about her.

Mr. Gold looked genuinely interested in knowing Henry. But could she trust him? The past told her not to – both Mr. Gold and his son had a past of abandoning loved ones. Then why her guts were telling her to do so? She was usually so good at detecting lies, at reading people's expressions, that's what made her a good police officer. Gold should be lying to her, she reasoned, but he _wasn't. _He was an old, lonely man, and he _wanted_ to be close to family.

She sighed. She couldn't deny the man that. She couldn't deny Henry the chance of having another member of his little family around. That was going to raise questions – since the first time the boy asked about his father, Emma told him the story of the fireman that was a hero, dying by saving a family. She had the impression Gold wouldn't cooperate with the story if she asked him to.

Oh, well. Maybe it was going to turning into something good, She thought. She would arrange for them to meet and they would go from there. And if Gold ever did anything to harm Henry, she would kill him.

She rested her hand on her belly, that was hard to the touch and slightly bigger, like she had eaten too much for Thanksgiving dinner. Different from Henry that little one could still be protect from the whole world. She would keep it a secret from Gold, at least until she was a hundred percent sure she could trust him. After all, the baby was also his grandchild.

She closed her eyes. She was tired, but couldn't sleep.

_Just close your eyes. Come on, I can sing for you._

_I don't want you singing. Your voice is terrible._

_Hey, that is not nice! Come on, be a good girl and close your eyes. I got your back, Em. I will be here until you fall asleep._

The memory made her smile, but also made her remember the voice she heard right before waking at the police station, the voice that was still a mystery. She had accepted that she probably imagined it. She wouldn't say it aloud, but she wished she could hear him calling her _Em_ again.

Where was Neal, anyway? If they had really have sex, why didn't he look for her? If he knew about Henry, why didn't he ask to meet the boy? Was he as drunk as she, and didn't remember a thing? If that was the case, there was no way he could know it. She was the one carrying the irrefutable proof.

For the second time he had left without knowing she was pregnant.

**~X~**

Some days later Gold called her. He wanted to know when he could meet his grandson. Emma sighed. She needed to talk to Henry about it.

"Kid, I have something to tell you." she said as he grabbed his coat and backpack so she could walk him to the bus stop.

"It was not my fault!"

"What wasn't your fault?" she asked, watching him intently and the face he made was comical.

"I may have broken your red vase."

"Oh, really? I was wondering what happened to it." she said, locking the apartment's door and turning to look at her son. "I hope you took care of the broken pieces."

"I did. I am sorry."

She smiled. If all her problems were about broken vases life would be so uncomplicated.

"I appreciate that you told me. But it was not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it then?"

They left the building and she inhaled deeply.

"I've met someone recently... someone that wants to know you."

Henry looked curious now.

"Who is it?"

"Kid, just so you know, I didn't know about him."

"Who is it?"

"He wants to be part of your life and maybe we should be careful about it."

"Who is it, mom?"

They reached the bus stop and Emma stopped walking.

"Your grandfather."

Henry stared at her, and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he managed to say something.

"I have a grandfather? Is it your father?"

"No, baby." Henry knew she was abandoned by the side of a road when she was a baby and she was never up to talk about it. "It is from your father's side of the family."

Emma could see he was going to ask more questions, but just at that moment they heard the school bus approaching. Perfect timing.

"He is going to have dinner with us tonight." she said, kissing his head. He was so shocked he didn't complain. "Have a good day at school!"

She watched him enter the bus with the same frozen expression on his face, and felt bad. His head was probably full on unanswered questions but she couldn't deal with them at the moment. She didn't know if she would ever feel ready to discuss about Neal with Henry.

**~X~**

She agreed on meeting with Gold after work so they could pick Henry up, stop by the grocery store then head home.

"So, were are you originally from?" Emma asked, thinking that small talk could help her to know the man better.

"Storybrooke, Maine." he said, not thinking about it.

"Storybrooke, huh? Never heard of it."

"It is a really small town. I think you would like it."

Emma raised her eyebrows.

"What makes you think _I _would like it?"

"Small community, everybody knows everybody, great place to raise kids."

"Sounds like a good place, but I am more like a big city kind of girl." she said, trying not to pay attention to the little tingle she felt when he said _great place to raise kids._

For her luck, they were approaching Henry's school. She crossed the line of cars on kiss and ride, going straight to the entrance of the school. Henry was there, sitting alone with a book.

"Hey, kid!" she called, and he raised his eyes. His hair was messy and he was wearing a black coat and a scarf, and maybe because of Mr. Gold's presence, that reminded her of Neal a lot.

The boy put his book on his backpack and walked to his mother. He looked expectantly to the man walking by her side.

"Henry, this is Mr. Gold. Gold, my son, Henry."

The boy raised his eyes to the man.

"Do I know you?" he asked, confused.

Gold smiled.

"Maybe you do." he said, an answer that Emma thought weird.

"Can you tell me stories about my father? About when he was my age?"

"Surely that I can, lad."

"We can talk as we walk." Emma said, thinking that she still needed to go to the grocery store. "Let's go?"

"Oh, Mom! My teacher wanted to talk to you!"

She looked at her son, intrigued.

"Why?"

"I may have got into trouble."

Emma sighed.

"Oh, Henry! We are going to talk later, do you hear me?"

She looked at Gold, still standing there. If it was anybody else she wouldn't trust to leave Henry but there was something about that man... and they were in school grounds, anyway.

"I'll be back soon. Don't leave this building, do you hear me?" She said, looking pointedly at Henry.

The two of them watched her go, then Gold turned to the boy.

"Henry, please tell me you remember everything."

Henry wrinkled his forehead.

"Everything what?"

"Storybrooke? Regina, your mother? The curse, Neverland, your grandparents, your father."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Henry said, a little afraid his grandfather was actually a lunatic.

Gold sat on the bench by the door, tired. What was he going to do? How was he going to find Bae and Belle when Emma and Henry had fake memories and he was powerless?

"Are you ok?" Henry asked, sitting by his side.

He didn't know what to answer. Truth be told, he wasn't ok.

"Are you really my grandfather?" the boy asked in awe.

To that he turned to face him.

"Yes, I am, Henry. I would do anything for you or your father. I just wish... I could have my family back."

"What happened to them?"

"You see, the last time I saw them I thought I was dying. When it turned out I didn't, I couldn't find them anymore. That is, until I found your mother."

Henry listened carefully. It was like a bed time story, but a story he heard before.

"Maybe you could stick around." Henry whispered. "Maybe it would make my Mom better."

Gold looked at him.

"Make your Mom better, what do you mean, boy? Is she sick?"

"No, but she had been really sad lately and I think it is because of my father, even if she says it isn't."

"She misses him. I miss him too, boy. But we are going to find him, you will see. Don't you know that the members of your family always find each other?"

Henry was looking at him with a confused expression. He said, in a whisper:

"My father is dead."

Gold needed to remind himself that the boy had no memory, that Bae _wasn't_ actually dead. He inhaled in.

"No, he isn't, Henry. I saw him a couple of months ago and he was fine."

"You saw... you saw my father?" Henry exclaimed. "Mom said that he was a fireman and he died when I was a baby!"

That made him remember the day that Henry first met Bae. The little boy saying – my father was a fireman, he died. Gold understood that probably, that was what the boy still believed.

"Henry..." Gold started, thinking about how he could start explaining it. But the boy was not listening to him. He stood up, looking pass him. Gold turned around and Emma was walking down the hall. Before she even got to them, Henry asked, in a loud tone.

"Is my father dead?"

Emma was startled, she looked up and Gold could see the pain in her eyes.

"Henry..."

"Is. my. Father. Dead?" the boy was yelling now, and Gold never saw him in so much rage.

Emma finally reached the place were they were.

"Baby, I am so sorry..."

She couldn't finish saying what she wanted cause Henry ran out the door. She sighed, looked at Gold with a defeated expression and ran after her son.


	6. It will be fine

_I am really sorry for the delay, got a couple of busy weeks. I will update another chapter soon to make up, maybe even tomorrow.  
>So, I knew what I wanted to write but it was hard to write... I think it was hard to organize the thoughts in my head. I am not, in any way, trying to guess what is going to happen - this is an AU and I am just having fun. But I may have been influenced by the promo scene, the one where Emma sees the dreamcatcher. I am also trying to portrait how lost she would feel, with all this weird things Gold says, Henry angry with her, the new baby, and her uncertainty with the future. I hope I am doing alright.<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 6 – It will be fine<strong>_

Belle sighed. That meeting had lasted for hours and hours and she really wished they could call it a day.

"I am just saying we can't trust her."

"She is part of our family, Red. And if we can't trust family, there is no point on doing anything else." Snow White said, with a final tone on her voice.

They had been going around that subject for some time now. They had received a message from Regina, that went to her old castle to investigate. It looked like they discovered that was not the Wicked Witch's first appearance on the Enchanted Forest. She was somehow connected to Cora.

That didn't surprise anyone. Most of the problems that found their way to them were related to the Mills family. What worried them was the fact that Cora being dead, there was no way to be sure who was going to be the victim of the Witch's vengeance. Regina was the one they were betting on and, to some of them, they should just leave her to deal with whatever business her mom left unsolved by herself.

But Snow was against it, as most of the people present. Besides, some of the man, like Philip, Hook and Charming had gone with Robin and the Merrymen to help Regina. Snow and Aurora would have gone too, but both being pregnant there was not much they could say to convince the boys. Aurora looked about to give birth at any moment now, there was no way she was leaving the castle.

"I don't need to remember that we are here, protected, because of Regina's spell."

That was enough to convince everybody. Regina had cast a spell to protect Snow and Charming's castle with a magic barrier, pretty much like the one Emma once did on Gold's shop. But this one was way bigger and stronger, so no one could cross it against Regina's will, or even show up inside by magic means.

"Are we having dinner yet?"

The group turned around. Little Roland was by the door, rubbing his eye in a sleepy way. Belle stood up.

"Are you hungry, sweetie? Come on, I can take you to eat something." The little boy seemed to trust her. Since Robin left, with many hugs and promises of coming back soon, the boy had grew really found on Belle.

And she was relieved that she could leave the pointless meeting.

They were on the hallway, Roland's little hand tucked safely on Belle's and she heard the discussion restart.

"When do you think my Daddy is coming back?"

"Really soon, sweetie. One of this days you are going to wake up and he is going to be here."

"I miss him."

"I know you do." Belle said, pressing his hand in hers. She knew the feeling pretty well.

She missed Rumple and Bae really bad but she knew that, different from Roland, she couldn't feed her hopes of seeing them again. She needed to accept she was not going to happen, and she needed to be strong, because she was not totally alone. She had her unborn daughter to think about.

"Miss Belle? Can you tuck me in tonight? And sing?"

She looked at the little boy, his dark eyes full of hope. For some reason, she always wondered if that was how Bae looked like when he was little. She wondered where Bae was.

"I think I can arrange that, Roland."

That made the kid smile, and off they went to the kitchen.

**~X~**

Neal stared at the hourglass. He knew that was the answer. But he also knew that, if he got to use it, he would leave Belle and the others behind. To what, he didn't know.

The hourglass was found between his father's things. Apparently Rumpelstiltskin had that in case he could ever be able to travel between worlds. It would take him to the place his most beloved person would be – Bae. And now Neal was going to use it to get to Emma.

He asked himself if he looked more like his father than he first thought, and if that was something bad. Because at that moment, all that really mattered was getting to his family. And he could do anything to reach that goal.

**~X~**

Henry wasn't talking to her.

He would answer her questions with yes or no - Did you finish your homework? Did you have a good day? Do you want eggs with that? - But besides that, he was silent.

"_You lied to me, you lied during my whole life!" _he had yelled as soon as she reached him outside the school, shaking his arm to remove her touch.

Gold said he was sorry, that he didn't know he was supposed to keep quiet about that but Emma shook it off. She couldn't blame Gold for something she had provoked.

Henry wasn't talking to her, but he was all chatty with Gold.

The man didn't lost interest after the first dinner, like Emma feared. He didn't disappear on the next week, or the week after that. It became something normal for him to come over for lunch on Sunday, and Henry enjoyed it. That made Emma happy, but also made her heart smaller – Henry desperately needed more role models in his life, he needed a man to relate to. She just wished that man could be his dad.

That weekend Gold was taking Henry to the bookstore. The two of them seemed to get along pretty well, and the fact that Gold knew tons of stories about his father helped. She was still watching the man's movements, but up to that moment he had been kind to Henry, and never broke a promise – when he said he would be there, he was there.

Henry also kept the promise he made to her, not saying anything about the baby to his grandfather. But Emma knew she couldn't hide it forever.

"Henry, come on, you are going to be late for school!" She said, entering his room, wondering if that was going to be the day the kid would talk to her again.

**~X~**

"Where do you want me to go?" Emma asked, thinking she didn't understand what Gold had said.

"Neal's apartment. I have something to show you."

She had just finished her turn at the police station and was ready to go home and take a shower when Gold appeared out of thin air. She could swear that man had superpowers.

"Gold, I am tired, I really need to go home." she said, wrapping the coat around her body, self-conscious. She was showing already and yet, she didn't tell her father-in-law about it.

"It is going to be quick. It is not far anyway, and it will just take a couple of minutes."

She finally agreed, following him to the apartment she probably had been to, but didn't remember. It was not more than a five minute walk from her work.

He opened the door and she looked around, feeling the room. She was going to voice her thoughts when her eyes caught something.

Gold called her but Emma didn't hear, going straight to the dreamcatcher, still hanging from the window. Gold entered and closed the door, watching intently. That was exactly his intention by bringing her there. He needed answers, and maybe if he triggered her memory with familiar objects...

Emma touched the dreamcatcher, sighing. Gold looked at her. But after some seconds seconds she seemed to shake off whatever thoughts she was having.

"Do you remember the first time you did that, dearie?" He tried.

Emma slowly raised her eyes to him.

"In this same room, you did exactly that, and I asked you what was it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Then my son came running from that door the moment I yelled at you."

"Gold..."

"It was the day he discovered he had a son." he finished, in a weak voice. He had been trying so hard. On the last months he did everything that he thought would make Bae and Belle proud of him. With no help of magic he earned money – in games, it was true, but still earned – found Emma and Henry and now was working to make them remember. He had been trying really hard, but sometimes it was so frustrating.

Emma stared at him. She didn't remember the scene he was describing, or did remember, but a little differently. Now that he mentioned it... there was a memory and it kind of seemed fuzzed in her head. She tried to focus on it, but it was like catching a glimpse of a hummingbird, in a blink of an eye it was gone.

"I don't know what you are referring to." she said, putting the dreamcatcher back in place.

Gold dropped his head. He had such high hopes!

Emma felt nauseous and thought, Oh, no! There was another reason why she should have gone straight home. Rushing to the bathroom, she asked herself when that was going to end. Hopefully, as soon as she hit the mark of six months, just like how it happened with Henry.

"Emma, are you alright?" she heard Mr. Gold calling after her.

She reached the toilet but now that she was there she didn't feel like throwing up, what was good. She locked the bathroom door and sat on the edge of the bathtub, breathing slowly.

That apartment was messing up her feelings. She thought about Neal, about the last time she saw him, or at least the last time she saw him and could remember clearly. It was not enough that he had disappeared from Earth, leaving her, Henry and that baby behind. His father believed he was coming back, but Emma was not so sure herself. He had a reason to leave, hadn't he? Wasn't there a woman in the story? Emma was confused, and the fact that that apartment looked like Neal, and smelled like Neal wasn't helping.

She felt lightheaded.

"Oh, come on. Help me out here, kid." she whispered, rubbing her belly.

"Emma..? What is the matter?" Gold's voice came from the other side of the door.

"I think I got the flu or something." She said through the bathroom door. "I will be fine."

_I will be fine_, she repeated to herself under her breath.


	7. She is pregnant

_Like promised, here goes another chapter. :)  
>It is shorter than what I usually write, but I had a spot too good to end it - I am sorry but I am not sorry.<br>We are one week away from a new episode, what makes me excited. Writing this story has helped with the waiting and I am truly having fun, both writing and reading your reactions, so let's keep it up!_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 7 – She is pregnant<strong>_

Henry got his books and closed his locker. Math, then chemistry. Wasn't life full of little pleasures? He stuffed the book violently on his backpack and kept walking.

A group of boys passed by him apparently discussing girls. They laughed out loud about something and Henry stopped by the water fountain. He pretended he was drinking water as he thought.

He wanted so much to open himself up to his mom. He was feeling frustrated and lonely and there was only one kid on that school that seemed to care about him.

They were building the scenarios for drama club, and some parents had came over to help. Mostly fathers with their ladders, paints and tool boxes. The first day Henry painted distractedly a piece of wood as he stared at his classmates and their fathers, one boy holding the ladder as his dad hammered some nails, a father and daughter seated on the floor, tying what would be the sail of a pirate ship.

The second day he hid on the dressing room, pretending he was passing through his lines.

It was one thing to think your dad was dead. It was another totally different to know he was alive, well, and didn't care about you.

And it was even worse not to have someone to talk about it.

He thought about discussing it with his grandfather, but his eyes were so sad when he talked about Henry's father... he didn't want to make him even more sad. He wanted to talk to his mom about it, she was the one he would always talk to, but he was still mad. He wanted her to apologize. He wanted to have some compensation for passing so many years of his life not knowing his dad was alive.

He wanted to meet his dad.

"Henry? What are you doing here?"

He looked up. There was Andrea, with her golden hair parted in two braids.

"Memorizing my lines."

"You already did, last week. I helped you, remember?"

"I just want to make sure I know everything."

"It is going to be ok, silly." she said, entering the room. "Let's go out and help them with the painting."

He slowly put the papers down. He didn't want to, so he would take as much time as possible.

"Are you excited?" she asked.

"A little nervous." He said, shrugging.

"Everybody is. Are your parents coming to see it? My mom is bringing my two younger brothers, even if she says they can't behave that well. And Dad is going to pick up grandma and grandpa, and we are going out for dinner after. Maybe you could come with us!"

"No, it is fine. My mom is the only one coming anyway."

"Really? Will your dad be working?"

Henry sighed. He had been transferred to that school just some months before and being quiet and not making friends easily, no one knew much about his family.

"It is... just me and my mom."

"Oh." for the first time she looked to be tongue-tied.

"Maybe my grandpa can come." he remembered, feeling a little hopeful.

"That would be fun." she said with a little smile. "Well, if you guys want to come with us to have dinner, you are welcome to do so."

Henry smiled.

"Thank you, Andrea."

"What about that painting?"

**~X~**

Emma washed her face with cold water. She looked at herself on the mirror. Oh, those headaches were taking a toll on her.

It had started some weeks before. She didn't have that much problem with morning sickness anymore, what was a blessing. But that was because she was in the middle of the second trimester now, as it was easy to notice. Her choice of clothes of that day made it obvious she was pregnant. A blouse that used to be loose around her hips was now pressed tight against her belly, and people on the metro would even offer their seats to her.

She was worried.

She kept thinking about the future, most of the time worrying about things that didn't happen yet. She was not happy about going into labor again and every time she thought about it she would cringe, but that was the smallest of her problems. She worried about that kid, just as much as she worried about Henry. Henry, that was not doing good in school lately.

"_He is not paying attention in classes, he doesn't care about assignments... he is a smart boy, but we can't help him if he doesn't help himself."_

The words of his teacher floated in her mind.

"_Has he said anything to justify his lack of interest?" She had asked_

"_He said the subjects in schools are useless and he is not going to use it for anything."_

Oh, the headache struck her again.

She took a look at her watch. It was almost five. Maybe she could leave work earlier. She had worked until late that week, she was sure there would be no problem. She would go home, take a long bath then order food. That's what she needed – to relax and eat something.

When her boss worried about her going home by herself she said she was going fine.

Oh, she regretted that.

Once she was on the street she thought she felt better. The headache was still there, but the wind awoke her from the previous sleepy state.

She remembered the one side talk she had the other day with Henry.

"_Tell me how I can help you, kid."_

He had been lying down in bed, hugging his own body. He liked school, and he liked to be part of the drama club, but some days he came home so sad that it scared the hell out of her.

"_Has something happened? Did you get into a fight again?"_

"_No."_

"_Then why are you like this?"_

And she got no answer. She was seriously thinking about taking Henry to a psychologist. He was never a boy to have many friends, but lately he had been even more isolated than usual, even before Gold and the discovery that his father wasn't dead.

Emma stopped walking, resting a hand on top of her belly and breathing in and out. She felt a little fluster. The wind that once was reinvigorating was starting to make her cold. She buttoned up the overly large coat she was wearing, bracing herself to see if she would feel better.

She looked around. She was on the 66th, still far from home. She started to think it was stupid to leave the police station by herself and walk home. At first she thought the walk would do her good, but it was clear that was not the case. When the sunlight started to blind her, she got really worried. She held a handrail and a man that was passing by asked if she was ok.

"I am fine, Sir."

The man left and she thought about going back to the police station. She was still far from home.

A sudden thought hit her. She was closer to Neal's apartment than to her work. She decided it was time to bet on Gold. She fished her phone out of her purse.

"Gold? It's Emma. Are you home?"

**~X~**

Gold sat patiently on the couch. He thought the call was weird. Emma never called him, he was always the one to reach her out. And for her to tell him that she was coming by? That was even more weird.

It looked like long minutes passed by before he heard the intercom. He allowed her in and waited. He opened the door of the apartment. No sign of her. He waited a little longer. Nothing. He finally decided to go down the stairs, limping slowly. He found her between the second and the third floors, bracing a wall.

"Emma? Are you ok?"

Her forehead was glistening with sweat. She breathed in deeply before answering.

"ve'been better."

"What is the matter?" he asked, dropping his cane and holding her arm as she slowly slid down the wall until she was in a seating position.

"I don't know." her voice sounded broken.

"What happened?"

"Haven't been feeling for..."

Before he could ask anything else, she passed out on his arms.

"Emma?" She was unconscious. He pulled her head to rest on top of his legs, both sprawled on the cold floor of the staircase. He looked up and down the empty staircase, then back to her.

Gold tried to remember things he knew before magic or the Dark One. What should he do? He put her purse aside, and took her scarf out, so she could breath more easily. She was still unconscious, and he decided that in that world the best thing to do was call 911.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Yes, yes." he said, opening the buttons of Emma's coat as he spoke. "My daughter-in-law just passed out with no apparent reason."

"Ok, Sir. Is she breathing?"

"Yes, she is."

"But she is not conscious, is that correct?"

"Yes, it is correct." He answered again, finally opening the coat and exposing the blouse she was wearing under it, wanting to make sure she didn't have anything on the way so she could easily breath.

"I am going to send a unit to the location we have here, Broadway, 153. Is there any special or medical condition we should know about?"

There was silence, and the woman tried again.

"Sir? Do you hear me?"

"Yes." Gold finally found his voice. He was staring with surprise at her blouse that exposed an expanded stomach. "She is pregnant."


	8. Worlds apart

_The wave of inspiration was pretty good this week! :D  
>This is great because next week I will have vacations and, consequently, no new chapters. But don't worry, I will come back, fresh and new, soon enough.<br>So, about the story. I've been struggling with the scene of Neal leaving the EF for some time now, but I think I finally have it. It is not going to be on this chapter but it will happen soon. :D  
>About them going back to Storybrooke or the EF, I don't know when that will happen yet. First Neal needs to figure out how to find them. But it will happen eventually, after all, for the prophecy to happen, the babies need to be reunited.<br>So here we go again, pals!  
><em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 8 – Worlds apart<strong>_

"Pass the bottle around, Grumpy!" the dwarf laughed. He took one more sip before passing the bottle to David.

David put a hand on Phillip's shoulder. The other man couldn't stop smiling.

"I want to congratulate you, my friend. And wish lots of happiness to you and your family. Had you decide on a name before parting?"

"Yes." Phillip answered, still smiling. "William, if it was to be a boy."

"So let's drink to the health of William, son of Phillip!" David exclaimed, raising the bottle before taking a sip.

He passed the bottle ahead, looking around. Between all the ones celebrating the good news they just received – Aurora had given birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy – there was one person that didn't seem to be sharing the happiness.

"Are you ok?"

Neal raised his eyes as David sat by his side. He had been staring at the flames for so long that he lost track of time and space. He had been on their company for three days now, having met them when he was coming back from the Dark Castle and deciding to join their party for part of the trip.

"Yeah, I am fine."

There was silence as Neal's saddened eyes went back to the fire. David sighed.

"There were not many things to celebrate lately." he said in a soft voice. "That's why all of us are putting our problems aside for a while and joining Phillip in his happiness."

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the spirits... it's just... this made me think. Time passes by so fast, you know? Today is Aurora, soon it will be Snow, then Belle..." He added the last name just mentally – then Emma.

David nodded, not having a clue about what the other man was thinking.

"In a blink of an eye time flies." Neal added, slowly.

"Yeah. One day they are newborns, on the next they are twenty eight." David said with a sad smile. "Neal, I know you've lost a lot of Henry growing up, but so did Emma. So did Snow and I with her. We are all still missing them, but there is nothing we can do about it tonight. So why don't you go congratulate Phillip? It will do good for both of you."

Neal thought about spilling the beans right then. He thought about telling David he was terrified he would never find a way to travel between worlds again, or that he would take years to do so. He thought about telling him he didn't want to miss the birth of his second child, or the first steps, or anything else for that matter

He just thought about it.

He nodded, then both of them stood up. Something on Neal's collar caught the fire's light, catching the attention of David. Neal looked to were the other man was staring.

"I kept it." He said, holding up the swan's necklace. "She gave me back when she first found me, saying that nothing good had came from us being together. I intend to give it back to her on the right moment."

David nodded. He wanted to know more about that man's story with his daughter, but he felt like it was not his place to ask.

"That's the phrase, Neal. The right moment."

**~X~**

Emma woke up hearing a constant beep, the smell of alcohol filling her nostrils. There was a weight on her hip, so she opened her eyes. Henry was sleeping in a chair, his head resting on her right hip. She was not home. She was... at a hospital.

Before she could think about crazy theories, Gold opened the door. He looked relieved to see her awake.

"How are you feeling?"

"Odd. What happened?"

"You passed out, got me quiet the fright."

"You called an ambulance?"

"Didn't know what else I could do. It is not like I have a car to drive. I am glad I did."

"And Henry...?"

"Picked him up at home, your neighbor had just walked him from the bus stop. He was really worried about you."

She dropped her eyes to her son, caressing his hair. His hand was resting on top of hers. Did that mean the silence treatment was over? She wished things didn't need to get to that point for her son talk to her again.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She raised her eyes, but Gold was still by the door, his cane firm on the ground. It took some seconds for her to realize what he was talking about.

"Gold..." she didn't know what to say. He held a hand up.

"No, it is alright. You don't own me and explanation."

She thankfully nodded, not trusting her voice.

"When I called the ambulance I didn't know how to explain why you passed out until I saw it... You got lucky."

Emma looked at him, worried. She said softly as to not wake Henry up.

"Is the baby alright? What did the doctor say?"

"I will call him so he can talk to you. You are fine now, both of you are."

He left the room and she resumed the caress on her son's hair. It looked like Gold had saved her, and now he knew the truth.

There was no doubt in her mind that she could trust him.

It turned out her blood pressure was high. No wonder, she thought, with everything that was going on lately. Just the fact she was having a baby was reason enough to make her pressure high.

"You need to slow down, Ms. Swan. Don't stress yourself out, try to exercise a little everyday, eat healthily and in between small intervals."

"Why was my blood pressure so high?" she asked "Is there a risk for the baby?"

"It is not uncommon and it may not have major effects if you are careful. Like anything else, it might be related to emotional causes."

She lowered her eyes to Henry, sighing. She couldn't be irresponsible with her health. She had two kids to look after and there was no one else in the worl..

"Are you her father?" the doctor asked Gold, that was seated on the far end of the room, listening intently.

"Father-in-law." he said, before Emma could say anything.

"Right, you were the one that called emergency. That is good, I can trust you will keep an eye on her."

"Yes, I will."

Emma looked from one man to the other, thinking it was unbelievable that they were treating her like a little kid.

But she also thought that it was good to know there was someone to get her back again.

She felt movement by her side. Henry, that was still resting a head on her hip, started to move and she caressed his mussy hair. The doctor smiled.

"I will leave you to rest. I will ask you to spend the night so we can monitor your vitals, but you will be discharged tomorrow."

"Mom?" Henry said as she saw the doctor leave and Gold following right behind him. The door closed with a soft click and she smiled to her boy.

"Hey, Henry."

"Are you ok? Is the baby ok?"

"Yes, we are both fine. The doctor said I can go home tomorrow."

"Why not today?"

"They want to watch my blood pressure, it was too high, that's how I ended up here."

"Mom, you really scared me. Mrs. Clark had just walked me and Brian home when grandpa knocked. He looked really worried, I thought something bad had happened."

"Your grandpa looked worried?"

"Really worried. He was telling me, after we got a cab, how we should keep an eye on you and take care of you and if he knew you were pregnant he would have done it before."

Emma looked at her son, thinking that if she was not sure before that he was trustworthy, now there was no doubt. She felt good finally discussing that with Henry – he hadn't given the chance to her on the past weeks.

"You should have told him about the baby before." Henry said, dropping his eyes. She knew he was not only referring to hiding the pregnancy from Gold.

"Henry, I am so sorry. You had the right to be mad at me, but I am happy you are talking to me again."

"Why didn't you told me my dad was alive?" he asked, and she could see the hurt in his eyes.

"Baby, he was a thief... he was everything I wasn't proud of... he... he broke my heart!"

"I could have taken the truth. All this time he was living in New York, and I thought he was dead!"

"I was afraid that, if I told you the truth, you would go after him."

"Of course I would!"

"And he would break your heart, just like he broke mine."

"You thought the same thing about grandpa, and he ended up saving your life."

She sighed. Henry had a point. Besides, they could pass the rest of the day discussing the subject and not getting anywhere.

"I want to redeem myself, Henry. Tell me, what do you want to know about your dad?"

The boy didn't look at her at first and for a terrible second she thought he had gone back to the silence treatment. But then he raised his eyes and he looked curious.

"What does he look like?"

She smiled.

"He has dark hair, just like yours. And his eyes are this shade of blue that makes you think they are dark at first. His eyes wrinkle when he smiles, and he has a really nice smile."

Henry smiled, mesmerized. Never before she talked about his dad like that.

"I have one picture of him, I can show you."

"I like the way you describe him." Henry affirmed. "Is he quiet? Talks in a formal, funny way like grandpa?"

Emma laughed.

"No, Henry. He is quite the joker. He likes to play around, and is the most hopeful person I ever met."

Henry nodded, feeling a painful ache in his chest. He wanted to meet his dad _so bad. _

"How did you guys meet?"

She rolled her eyes and got closer to him.

"I was young and stupid so please, don't get any ideas, do you hear me?"

He nodded, not understanding completely. She inhaled deeply.

"I just got out of the system, and was living in Portland. I saw this yellow bug parked in an alley and since I needed to get out of the city..."

**~X~**

When Gold entered the room one hour later, it was quiet. Henry was passed out on the couch and Emma was watching him with a frown.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, making her turn around. Her lips lightly twitched up.

"Yes, it is. We talked, what was good. Come in."

He did so, closing the door.

"Gold, I wanted to thank you... for taking care of me and Henry."

He shook his shoulders, uncomfortable.

"I did what anyone else would have done in my position."

"And I want to apologize for not telling you about the pregnancy before. I think I was afraid..." she said, not looking at him. "I didn't know you, I didn't know if I could trust you."

"You were protecting your family." he said. "I would have done the same."

"I may be a little overprotective, but it has been just the two of us for the longest of times..." she said, and he got scared when her eyes filled with tears. Some silent seconds passed before she whispered "Why did he leave?"

Gold was startled by the question, but he knew what she meant. He had asked himself who would be the father of that child. The doctor had said she was on the sixth month, so it happened when they were in Storybrooke, before Neverland. He was afraid it could be his enemy's child. But that whispered question made him think in another direction.

"He needed to, he had no choice. I know it is not of my business, dearie, but would you tell me who is the father of this child? Is it my son?"

She nodded, trying to dry some tears, then whispered "Yes." Gold didn't know what to do with himself. At some level he was happy – his boy was going to be a father again – but it mostly broke his heart. Everything was out of its place. Baelfire should be there, with the woman he loved and his children.

"Did he know about the kid?" Gold asked again, momentarily forgetting about Emma's fake memories.

"Which one?" Emma said, trying to make a joke as more tears streamed down her face. "I don't remember telling him about Henry, but my memories are confuse. He certainly didn't know about this one." she pointed to her belly, a little hill covered in a hospital gown.

"He knew about Henry." Gold stated. "And that is reason enough form him to come back, even if he needs to cross worlds to do so. After all, he is my son."


	9. Between shadows and light

_I am back! :D  
>I had a great week off, a wonderful trip, and now I am all ready to endure routine again.<br>So here we go with another one. I was feeling a little poetic with this one. I mention a song on it, it is Golden Slumbers by the Beatles. I have no rights over the song!  
>And hold on there, cause things are about to get good!<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 9 – Between shadows and light <strong>_

"Boy, you probably have homework to do, don't you? Why don't you do that, and let your mom rest?"

Gold had paid a cab for her and Henry home and, as she got her boots and coat off, she heard him bossing Henry around. It sometimes surprised her how good he was with the boy. But it shouldn't, she thought. He was a father too and for all she knew, for most of the time he had raised Neal by himself.

Sometimes she fantasied it was Neal, not Gold with them.

She went to her room to change, thinking that was silly. Neal had left her twice. She shouldn't be hopeful just because of Gold's words an stories.

She got to the kitchen, an old pair of sweatpants on, intending to check if Henry was really doing his homework. It surprised her the fact that he was not only doing so, Gold was seated by his side, two mugs on the table.

"Here you go, dearie." he said, putting one of the mugs in front of her. "Drink it up. Go to bed."

"Gold, I appreciate it, but I really need..."

"To make dinner? No way. I can cook something for Henry and I can keep an eye on him. You really need to rest."

"I am not a baby to be watched, grandpa!" Henry complained, what made both of them smile. But he stood from the chair by the kitchen table were he was doing his homework, and walked to his mom.

"He is right, Mom. You should rest." he said, hugging her. "Wow!" he said suddenly, letting go of her. "Your belly is getting pretty big!"

Emma laughed and let the boy touch it with curious hands. She left a kiss on top of Henry's head and said thank you to Gold before going to her bed with the mug of tea. Maybe she could take it easy that night. She realized, when she woke up at the hospital, how much she already loved the little kid growing inside of her and how terrified would it be if something bad happened.

Yes, she could take care of herself. By doing so, she was taking care of the kid.

The process was going to be hard, but if she did it once, she could do it another time. She could be a mom again.

**~X~**

Emma was asleep. Henry had finished his homework, had dinner, took a shower and went to bed as well. Before doing so the boy had brought Gold pillows and covers and made him a bed on the couch. He was sitting on his makeshift bed, thinking that, even if it was good the feeling of taking care of a family again, it didn't feel totally right. It should be Baelfire, not him, to do those little things.

He was possessed by the sudden fear of never finding his son or Belle again. Without magic he didn't know how to look for them. Emma and Henry could live forever with those fake memories and there was nothing he could do about that.

He had the guess that maybe all of that was made by Regina. Maybe even after Malcolm was gone, there was no way to stop the curse. But that was a pretty bad perspective – it meant that Henry, born on that land, and Emma, the savior, were there with fake memories but all the others were in another land. Regina had probably sent them home.

And if Belle and Baelfire were back in the Enchanted Forest and he was stuck there... there was nothing he could do. They couldn't even know he was alive.

All he could do at the moment was take care of his son's family.

With that thought he fell asleep. But he didn't sleep for long. He woke up some time later, confused as where he was at first. He recognized the living room of Emma's apartment and relaxed. Just then he noticed a sweet singing on the background. He listened intently. It sounded like Emma's voice, soft and low.

_Once there was a way  
>to get back homeward<em>

_Once there was a way  
><em>_to get back home_

_Sleep, pretty darling,  
><em>_Do not cry  
><em>_And I will sing a lullaby_

Her voice got higher, she sounded about to cry. Gold wrinkled his forehead in thought. He shouldn't interfere, but he couldn't just go back to sleep. He slowly stood.

He got his cane and tried to make as little noise as possible as he walked to Henry's room, where the sound was coming from. Emma was still singing the last verses of the song, her hand caressing the dark hair of an asleep boy. The glim of tears shone on her face and sitting like that, crossed legs and bending forward, made her bump look even bigger. Gold decided to giver her privacy, but as he started to leave she stood up and saw him there.

"Are you ok?" He asked, not able to ignore the fact she was crying.

"Yes, I am." she said, drying her tears and trying to smile. "Henry had a nightmare, I sang for him to sleep."

"You were crying." Gold said, his voice worried.

He wanted to know what was happening, but he also wanted to give her a safe escape. If she denied she had been crying, he would leave it at that.

"Probably the hormones." she said, looking at Henry with love. "He is growing so fast. Sometimes it looks like the last years were just a dream."

Gold didn't dare to make a comment on that and the two of them were quiet for some time. Suddenly Emma whispered, still looking at Henry:

"Neal used to sing that song to me."

"He did?" Gold asked, hoping to hear more. He knew so little about the time Emma and his son spent together.

"Yes. I was never a heavy sleeper and, sleeping in the bug, the two of us in the back seat, wasn't exactly comfortable. He would kiss my eyelids and sing until I feel asleep. Even if I joked about him not having a good singing voice. That made me feel safe.

Her eyes were shining and a small smile played on her lips. Then she looked up, remembered where she was, and the moment was gone.

"Well, I should go to bed." she said, unconsciously putting a hand on her belly as she passed by Gold.

"Do you think he is ok?" he asked when she was already on the hallway.

"I am sorry?"

"My son." Gold said, not looking at her. "Do you think he is alive and well?"

"Gold... I don't know." she said softly.

"I would feel something if he wasn't, right? I would know it."

He sounded so broken that Emma came back and put a hand on his shoulder. The truth was, he had used magic as a crutch for far too long. Without it, he felt lost.

"I am sure he is alright."

Then where is he? Gold thought, but didn't voice it.

**~X~**

Gold took care of his son's family for the next days. He would go shopping, cook dinner and, much to Emma's dismay, clean the house.

She claimed she was fine. He claimed her doctor had put him in charge.

Henry would hide a smile.

They would have dinner together and make jokes -and that's when he most missed Belle.

In the days he burned the eggs, he would think of what a great omelet she would make if she was there. In the days he heard Emma or Henry cry in their sleep, chased by nightmares, he would think of how she would be able to comfort them.

He would think if he would ever have his body wrapped around hers again. And, just as much as he wondered if he would ever see Belle again, he wondered if Bae would find his way back to his family.

"I am totally capable of taking the trash outside, Gold." Emma complained, a hand holding her bulging belly.

"So am I, Emma. But right now I can get to the end of the hallway with my cane faster than you can with your kangaroo pouch."

Henry had joked that Emma looked like a mama kangaroo with her funny way of walking and that soon became the inner joke of the small family.

"Oh my gosh, you and Henry have been so annoying!" she exclaimed, sounding like a stubborn teenager.

"I can wait for Henry on the bus stop. And bring you some donuts from Dunkin' donuts." he said, leaving.

"Chocolate ones!" he heard her yell as he was almost leaving the apartment, what made him smile.

**~X~**

"I can't wait to see my boy!" Robin Hood said as they finally could see the walls of the castle.

"The same for me, pal!" Phillip added with a smile.

It was all they said right after being threw back by a strong gush of wind.

They were almost at Snow and Charming's Castle, but suddenly it was impossible to cross the fields to it.

"Is that a...?"

"Tornado!" Grumpy finished Bashful's mid sentence.

There was no way they could cross the fields now. Not with that big, terrifying tornado coming on their direction.

"What does she want? Just kill us all?" Robin Hood asked.

"That is probably her intention." Regina stated, her forehead wrinkled.

Neal looked at his right side, and David was staring at him. It was like he could read his mind.

"Sir, I can't leave you behind." he said, reading David's expression.

"You need to." David said, a little annoyed that the other man had went back to the `Sir` treatment. Neal was older than him, both in age and experiences, but never seemed to be ready to talk to David as an equal. "It is your chance."

"What is going to happen to you?"

"That is our problem. We can take care of ourselves. Right now I have another mission for you."

Neal looked at the other man, the wind whipping their faces. Hood and Phillip were ordering everybody to find shelter. He went back to stare at David.

"Once I put my baby girl on a wardrobe, worried because there was no one to take care of her, or so I thought. There was nothing else I could do back then. Now I am sending you to take care of her, like I know you did before and like I know you will do again."

Neal bowed his head, knowing David was right, knowing he needed to make this decision with no delay.

"Please, Neal. Go and take care of my daughter and grandson."

"And granddaughter."

"What was that?" David yelled, the wind too strong. "What did you say?"

Neal dismounted, getting closer to David.

"Sir, I may find Emma pregnant. Ask Belle about it, she will tell you our theory."

Neal pulled the hourglass from his cape and turned around, walking straight in the direction of the tornado.

"What is he doing?" Phillip yelled. "Come back, Neal! Are you crazy?"

"Let him go." David said finding shelter with the others, then watching the silhouette of the man getting smaller and smaller, his steps getting less steadier as he tried to fight the wind. "He has business of his own to do."

It didn't take long before they couldn't see Neal anymore.

"Good luck." David whispered under his breath. "I hope to see you again."


	10. Inner turmoil

_Here we have a new one! I wrote this in a different sequence originally, but rearranged it , and I think it makes more sense now. It also had scenes that I ended up leaving to the next chapter. That may mean that the next chapter will come faster.  
>I would like to thank you for your continued support with reviews, alerts and favorites. It always brings a smile to my face. :D<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 10 – Inner turmoil<strong>_

Emma shook her mug of tea so the sugar in the bottom would melt. She sighed. The baby had been pretty active, kicking her ribs all the time. She rested a hand on the place where she felt the last kick, imagining, in her head, a perfect little baby inside. She had been to the doctor that week and everything looked fine. Her blood pressure was not normal yet, but it was not as high as the last time. He asked if she wanted to know if t was a boy or a girl, but she said no – she wanted it the old way, just knowing at birth.

She had been thinking a lot about Neal lately.

Maybe it was all the conversations with Henry. Now that the boy knew his dad was alive, he would ask tons of questions. How did his voice sound like? What was his favorite color? Did he like to read, like Henry did?

On the table by the window, standing on front of a picture that Henry and Emma had taken right after moving to New York, was an old picture of Emma and Neal – the one they took at the Carnival, the only one she had of them together. Henry stated that he loved it and he sneaked in her room to take a look at it so frequently that she decided to just leave it in the living room.

Henry sighed as well and she looked up. He was very concentrated on his game boy – probably the zombies had killed him or something.

She looked at the other side of the living room, where Gold was seated with a book. Lately, when he was not helping her around, he was reading, something she had never seen him doing before. Since the time she went to the hospital that he had been different. He was extremely protective, and he was really kind to Emma and Henry, but there was something... a sadness on his eyes that Emma couldn't understand. Every time she thanked him for something he had a look of resigned sadness and she always wondered exactly what happened on his past. He would never talk about that subject, unless it was some story of Neal as a kid.

She decided it was time to put something together for lunch and for once Gold didn't complain about her moving around. She was taking some chicken out of the fridge to make sandwiches when she saw Henry's game boy been thrown on the cushions of the sofa. He turned on the TV instead and Emma smiled. He must be in a really hard level.

He had been watching TV for five minutes when he stated:

"They do sing a lot."

Emma looked up to see a Disney cartoon on. It seemed like now he had a more cryptic eye than when he was a little, excited boy watching it.

"It is annoying." Gold said, raising his eyes of the book.

Henry nodded, absentmindedly saying:

"I know that they are true love and everything... but how did Belle fell for a monster?"

"He is not a monster!" Emma and Henry raised their eyes to Gold, surprised. He even dropped his book, so distressed he was.

"I am sorry, Grandpa." Henry said, unsure. "The guy has its charm, I suppose."

Gold picked his book up, trying to act nonchalantly.

"It is an inaccurate movie anyway. It got everything wrong."

Henry looked at Emma, that shrugged.

"Lunch is almost ready. Henry, can you grab the plates, please?"

"In a minute, Mom." the boy said.

Gold closed his book, sighed and stood up. He entered the hallway in the bathroom's direction and Emma could swear she heard him whispering curses.

"Your grandpa is cranky today." she said, starting to lay the plates on the table since Henry was still distracted.

"I think he doesn't like cartoons." Henry said with a shrug.

Emma agreed, remembering Neal's distressed reaction once, when they had turned on the TV of a hotel room to Peter Pan's cartoon.

**~X~**

It was a Tuesday when they realized they hadn't seen Gold for the weekend, or the days after, and Emma decided to call him. No one answered on Neal's apartment and, under Henry's insistence, they went to check on him.

When they got there, they knocked but no one answered. Henry tried the door, and it was unlocked.

"Stay behind me, Henry." Emma whispered, opening the door a crack and watching inside. She didn't like how that looked.

Inside everything looked normal. The window was closed and there was nothing out of place. She opened the door all the way.

"Gold?"

They entered the apartment. She asked Henry to stay by the door, and advanced to the room.

There she found him, sleeping in what looked like an uncomfortable position, on a chair. He was holding a piece of paper in a clutch and, as Emma noticed, there were more sprawled on the bed. She got closer and recognized the heavy traces of coal. Those were Neal's drawings.

She had caught him drawing only once or twice. He would do it just when he couldn't sleep. She knew there were memories haunting him, but he wouldn't talk about it. He said that drawing his fears would help him easy his mind.

As she remembered it she stared at the pictures that looked, pretty much, like they came out of a nightmare. Shadows and daggers were everywhere, as long as whirlpools. What surprised her, though, was the lighter picture in the centre. It was a smiling girl, wearing glasses and ponytail – a picture of her.

"Mom?"

She startled when she heard Henry's voice by the bedroom door. "Is he alright?" the boy asked, noticing Gold.

"Yes, he is sleeping." she whispered, coming close to Henry. "It looks like he found some old drawings."

"What are those?"

Emma looked at him. She had promised to be honest, didn't she?

"Your father used to draw."

"He did?" the boy asked, excited.

"Yeah. Mostly to make the nightmares disappear. But it looks like he draw other things too." She said, reaching the drawing that portrayed her.

"Is that you, Mom? How old were you?"

"Seventeen. It was around the time we were together."

"You look so..." he stopped to think and Emma imagined he was going to say `young`.

"...happy."

"Yeah." she mumbled, also looking at the picture. Did she really look happy like that back then?

Gold moved in the chair and they both jumped.

"Come on Henry, let's go."

"Is he going to be fine?"

Emma sighed. She knew a haunted person when she saw one.

"Tell you what, I will pass to check on him on my way to work tomorrow. We can leave a note, if you want. But let's let him sleep for now."

Emma did that on the next day. Gold opened the door for her this time, and he looked tired.

"Did you see our note?"

"Yes, yes. I am sorry... for worrying you."

"You should lock your door, you know?"

He nodded, sitting on the couch. She saw one of Neal's drawings on the coffee table, but decided not to mention it.

"Henry wanted to make an invitation. He is going to have this play at school... he is very excited about it. He wants you coming."

Gold looked up.

"Of course. I would be happy to go."

"Maybe we can have dinner together tomorrow so you can tell him that?"

Gold nodded and his eyes fell on the drawing. Emma sat on a chair, looking at the man.

"Gold... what happened?"

He kept quiet for some moments. Then pointed to the paper.

"I was looking for some scissors, I didn't intended to pry... but I found these on a drawer."

She looked at the drawing he was pointing at. It looked like the down view of a whirlpool, and there was a creature looking down. Gold's eyes were anguished, but he moved on.

"I remember how Bae always had a great hand for drawing, but he didn't do that often. See, I wanted a picture of him, I needed to insist and bribe him..." a little laugh escaped from his lips. "He was such a determined boy."

Without even noticing, Emma smiled.

"I wonder if I will ever see him again. At this point in my life, I've spent more time apart than next to him and I know it is all my fault..."

"Where is he, Gold?" Emma asked in a whisper.

"Oh, if I knew. I thought he was dead once, did you know that? I don't wish the feeling to anyone. He is the one that thinks I am dead now. If he does come back, it will be a miracle."

That got in Emma's head.

**~X~**

Emma touched her belly, feeling a kick almost immediately. "You do have a strong kick, kid." She wondered if Neal would be happy with kids. They never mentioned the subject when they were together, just living in the moment. She guessed that, if he inherited Gold's skills, he would be an awesome dad.

"I am hungry, Mom!"

She looked up.

"Why don't we go to the restaurant on the corner for lunch? Did you finish studying for your Biology test?"

"Yes, I did that yesterday."

Emma smiled. Since Henry started talking to her again, his grades had improved. She wondered if it also had something to do with the fact there were two people asking him to do his homework, not just one.

"That is good. So we can go."

Henry looked at her suspiciously.

"If you don't want to eat hamburgers, I can eat yours." she said with a smile.

"Grandpa said you should eat healthily."

"And I am. But one burger is not going to hurt. It has been so long since I ate one." she whined.

Henry crossed his arms, like he was the parent, not Emma.

"No french fries."

"Alright, deal. Can we go now?"

They left the apartment and Henry was quiet for some time. As they waited for the elevator, he voiced his thoughts.

"Is Grandpa alright?"

"Yes... he just needs... some time."

"Is he sad because of my dad?"

"I think that is part of the problem, kid." she said, as the elevator door opened. " But he said we can have dinner together tonight, so we can try to cheer him up. You can tell him about your play."

Henry didn't answer anything, and Emma thought that strange. She looked at him and the boy seemed to be in deep thought.

"Do you think my father is dead? Like, for real?"

"Why would you say that?"

"Grandpa doesn't know where he went, he just... vanished. Maybe something happened. Have you seen anything at your work? Can you check?"

"I, ah... sure, if it makes you feel better."

As they walked, Henry kept thinking about that. He wished his dad could come back, this way he could meet him, his grandpa could be happy and his mom wouldn't miss him either. Because he knew she did. He noticed it by the way she talked about him or stared at his picture.

Like he had done before, Henry started to mentally wish _May he not be dead, may he not be dead, may he not be dead_ and then, as other thought mixed up with the first, he added _May he come back, may I meet him, may I meet my father_.

While the boy did that his father was in some place at the verge of different worlds, about to start his journey, thinking, _Hold on, Emma, Henry. I am getting to you. I promised I would, didn't I?_


	11. You've got to hide your love away

_Hey there, guess what I brought to you? A reunion! Yay!  
>I can tell you not everything will be flowers and rainbows. But hey, things need to get worse in order to get better! ;)<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 11 - You've got to hide your love away<strong>_

"She may be WHAT?"

"David, calm yourself down." Snow ordered, looking from Belle to him.

"How did this happen? Who...?"

"We know nothing for sure yet." Belle said.

"But if you think there is a chance... did Neal...?"

Belle just nodded, what made David punch the table.

"I am going to kill him!"

"David!"

"Snow, he got our daughter pregnant! Again! And left her! Again!"

"He didn't do that by himself, and he was not the only one to leave her. Now calm yourself down, I really want to hear what Belle has to say."

The two pregnant women looked at each other and Belle resumed her explanation.

"It was the announce of your pregnancy that made me remember this old prophecy Rumple predicted once. It mentioned four kids, born from different mothers, close in time. There was you, Aurora and me, what made three of us"

"And what makes you think it is Emma the fourth one?" David asked.

"We were trying to figure out who else could it be, there is this part that mentions... `the sons of hope and the daughters of light and darkness'."

Belle could almost see the wheels turning inside Snow's and David's heads.

"So yours would be the daughter of darkness..." Snow voiced "Leaving the daughter of light to Emma."

"Yes, the daughter of the Savior. At least that was my theory. But there was no way to know if it was true, at least not until Neal told me..."

She stopped herself, looking at David.

"Did they sleep together?" Snow asked "Emma was closing herself to him since Neverland, when could that have happened?"

"It was before Neverland, when they all came back from New York."

Snow nodded, in deep thought. David just grumbled.

"That was several months ago... if this is true, she must be almost having the baby by now."

"By Neal's calculation she must be on the seventh month."

Snow sighed, wishing she could be with her daughter.

"Do you think this is really what the prophecy predicted?" David asked.

"I don't know. But I don't believe it is just a coincidence." the woman shrugged.

David nodded, thinking about what that could mean to his family.

"I hope Neal is successful on his journey." Both women looked at him and he added " But I am still going to kill him."

**~X~**

Neal fell face first on the floor. He raised quickly though, looking around him like a mad men.

He noticed the many doors on the hallway. Was he in a building? The door on front of him had a big number on it - 311.

He heard footsteps coming down the hallway and turned around.

"Hello there..." A woman carrying two grocery bags said, looking curiously at him. It was like he had a second head or something by the way she was staring at him.

"Hi." he said, immediately getting his act up, something that got him out of problems so many times before. "I was looking for my girlfriend, but it looks like she is not home."

The woman looked at the door he had been staring at "Emma?"

He sighed relieved, and smiled.

"Yes, that's her."

"I didn't know she was dating! I am Mrs Clark, her neighbor."

Neal stretched his hand to shake hers and it was then he noticed the leather gloves – and all the rest of the wardrobe from the Enchanted Forest. No wonder the woman had been staring so insistently at him.

"I was..." he started, waiving to his clothes as the woman observed him. "Henry did..."

"Is it about Henry's play? He is pretty excited about it."

"Yes, it is!" Neal said, once more relieved. She was making his act pretty easy. "I've been helping him with it."

"Well, you are a very dedicated boyfriend, that I can say." the woman said, her hungry eyes traveling through his leather jacket. "Too bad she is not home."

"Did she leave?" he asked, a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, saw her and Henry on my way in. It looks like they were going to Tony's burgers."

"Really? Where is that?"

"One block from here, right on the corner by CVS."

"Oh, that one." he said, pretending he knew where it was. "I think I will try to catch them up then."

The woman waved a goodbye and Neal strode down the stairs.

He wondered where he was in the US. Where would Emma and Henry driven to after they left? His guess would be Boston, that's where she was living before going to Storybrooke. Or maybe even Portland.

He left the building complex, inhaling the air outside.

"Could it be...?"

He looked around, the brick buildings, the skyline, the tons of taxis and, most important, no one caring that he was a guy dressed in medieval clothes in the middle of the street.

He was in New York.

"Why did you come to New York, Emma?" he asked under his breath, as he started to walk on the direction of the CVS he could spot. He took off his cape, throwing it in a nearby dumpster, then his gloves. Maybe if he wore just the undershirt Emma wouldn't be so freaked out with his clothes.

He walked down the street, his heart beating so fast that he could hear its beating pounding on his ears. Her neighbor had said the restaurant on the corner...

As he fixed his eyes on the big window panel, his breath caught. The restaurant was crowded but he could see, among so many people, the blond hair that always caught his eye. Emma was sitting on a booth and in front of her - whom Neal could see just the back of the head - was Henry for sure.

She was beautiful.

She was talking to Henry and laughing. But there was something more... some kind of glow lightening her features.

Neal was ready to run to them and embrace both in a tight hug. But he stopped himself just in time.

That was old Emma, the Emma that ran after him because she made a deal with his father. She pretty much hated him. He needed to be careful on the approach.

"Don't you think you had enough sugar for the whole week, kid?" Emma asked as Henry came back to the table with another cup of soda. "And here were you, lecturing me about eating healthily."

"I haven't drank soda for so long!" the boy said, putting the cup on the table and tearing the package of the straw apart.

"Your grandpa does a good job of keeping us on track, doesn't him?"

Henry didn't answer and Emma looked up. The straw had fallen to the ground, but the kid didn't pay attention to that. He was staring to a point above Emma's head, his mouth slightly open.

"Henry?"

Since he didn't react, she turned around. At first she didn't see anything out of order. Then she noticed the tall man by the door, cautiously watching them.

"Neal!" she half gasped, half exclaimed.

At that moment she didn't think. She stood up. All she knew was that they had been separated and it was a miracle he was there. She needed to hug him.

"Oh!" was all he managed to say before he was tightly wrapped on her embrace.

He held her close, or at least, as close as possible with her bump on the way. He closed his eyes, happy, aware that he was holding half of his family on that embrace.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed Henry walking on their direction, his mouth still half open. He loosened his embrace on Emma and she turned around to see Henry coming. That made her wake up from her dazzle and she watched as Henry stopped in front of Neal, not knowing how to react.

"Hey, pal! It is good to see you!" Neal said, hugging Henry tightly. Long seconds passed before Henry let go.

Neal turned to Emma.

"Do you remember?" he asked, mesmerized.

Immediately her demeanor changed. She looked at Henry.

"Henry, can you please get me a sundae?"

"But, Mom!"

"Now, kid!"

The boy sighed, looked at his father then turned around, going to the line of the restaurant. Emma pushed Neal out the door. There was a little alley on the outside, empty at that moment.

"So you remember." she said.

He watched her.

"Yeah, of course I do."

"And you remember the day... this" she said, pointing to her belly "happened."

He looked at her bump. Now that he really saw it, he couldn't take his eyes off it. She looked adorable.

"Yes, I do. At least some parts of it. We did drink a lot of Jack that night."

"That's what it was?" she said, a whining voice that made him laugh. She looked relieved, and Neal couldn't understand why. Her next sentence came to clarify it to him.

"That's good in a certain way, it means it really happened... I wasn't going crazy."

"So... you don't remember?" he asked, confused.

"I didn't at first... I panicked when I discovered I was pregnant and didn't remember being with anyone."

Neal dropped his head. For one moment he thought that, for some reason, Emma remembered everything. She hugged him with such an emotion... but no, of course that pregnancy would just mess up with the fake memories Regina created to her, not vanish them.

When he looked up again he realized her eyes were cold on him.

"So that means I told you about Henry."

"Yes..." he said, knowing he couldn't deny it after his reaction to the boy at the restaurant.

"And still, you left. You left me with two kids. Your kids! You may not have known about this one, but you knew about Henry!"

Neal closed his eyes. It was going to be really hard to explain that to her out of context.

"Look, it was not like I wanted to leave but I needed to, ok? Both times."

She looked furious now.

"Right! I bet you had a great reason to do that!"

"Emma, I am here now. I found my way back."

"For what? So you can abandon us again? I am not going to let it happen! You can go!"

"Em..."

"I said go!" she yelled this time and some of the people that were leaving the restaurant watched them, trying to understand what was going on. Neal sighed. If he insisted, he was going to make things worst. He took one step back.

"This is not finished, ok?" he said softly. "I will be around. I will prove to you... I will prove that you can trust me."

Emma watched him go, not understanding why she felt so bad about it.

Neall passed on front of the window panels again, and saw Henry coming from the cashier with a big sundae on his hands. He smiled and waved to the little boy. Henry waved back, but his face was sad. Neal wondered what exactly the boy knew about him.

"I am going to do right for you, kid." He promised to himself and to his son.


	12. Fights and frights

_What I can say about last night's episode? I am not going to give away any spoilers, because there are people who didn't watch it yet, but I was really disappointed. So I did what I always do when that happens - I retreated myself to the fanfiction world. At least here I am in charge and I can give everybody their happy endings.  
>I added a little scene of Belle because I think she is a great character, and she deserves lots of happiness. Oh, and if anyone has suggestions of names for the baby, I am all ears. :D <em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 12 – Fights and frights<strong>_

"You made him go away!"

"He did that himself, Henry!"

"No, he didn't! He came back for us! Why did you need to fight him?"

Emma closed her eyes. The boy had been discussing with her for half an hour now, since they came back from lunch. She could feel her heart beating fast, frustration and anger waving over her.

"He is my father! I don't care if you don't want anything with him, I want! I have the right!"

"I am just afraid of what he can do to us... you and your brother or sister deserve better." she said in a softer voice.

She still couldn't believe he was back.

And he knew about Henry!

And now he knew about the other kid too.

"Wait..." Henry said, for once not screaming. "My brother or sister, you said... is he... is my father..."

Emma exhaled loudly. Now it was out.

"He is the father of both of you."

She expected more yelling, but Henry wrinkled his forehead in thinking.

"Henry..." she said, trying to take advantage of the fact that he was not yelling anymore.

But he distanced himself, running to his room and shutting the door.

Emma decided to give him some time to calm down. Both of them needed to cool off. She was about to sit on the couch when dizziness hit her. She held one of the stools by the kitchen counter tightly, trying to breath in and out calmly.

She was not feeling well at all.

**~X~**

Gold sat on a chair, looking outside the window with glassy eyes. Bae's drawings were all over the coffee table. He had memorized each one of them already. His mind was empty, and his will, almost nonexistent. He knew he needed to start to get ready to leave, he had agreed to have dinner with Emma and Henry, but it was so much easier just staying there... not needing to pretend he was happy, or he found interesting all the stories his daughter-in-law and grandson told him – stories that were just the product of fake memories.

For some reason he was more melancholic than usual that day. He thought about his family, and the constant pain on his chest got stronger. He wondered what Belle was doing at that moment.

"We are almost there, Belle! I need you to push now!"

Belle felt the wave of pain trying to rip her in two. She locked her jaw, breathing in deeply, ready to push that kid out for once.

"You are doing great." Snow White said by her side. "A little more effort and you will meet your child."

She pushed, screaming, putting all her strength left on the task. Somewhere amid the pain, the screams and the weakness came the sweetest of the sounds.

"Your baby is here." Doc said, smiling. "And it is a girl."

Belle closed her eyes, feeling happier than she thought it was possible. She felt Snow's hand on her pressing it lightly.

"Congratulations, mommy." she said with a smile.

While Doc was cleaning up the baby, Snow dried the sweat from Belle's face.

"Thank you." she moaned, aware of the long hours the other woman had passed by her side as she was in labor.

"Mrs. French." Doc said, approaching her with the baby wrapped in a blanket. Granny had made blankets for the three newborns, just like she had once made for Emma. "Don't you want to meet your daughter?"

Belle was almost crying, and when the light weight was put in her arms she teared up and smiled, all at the same time.

"Hello, sweetie." she cooed. "I've been waiting for your arrival."

"She is gorgeous." Snow said as the baby yawned.

"She is." Belle agreed. Her expression dropped a little. "I wish your daddy was here to see your sweet face."

**~X~**

Neal had a long walk to put his thoughts into order. He was so worried about finding Emma and Henry that he forgot about what would be the hardest part of the operation – convincing Emma she could trust him. In the end, his father's hourglass had worked perfectly, bringing him to the exact place he needed to be. He just needed to make Emma trust him. Then he could try to, somehow, help them have their memories back.

It was getting dark and the man knew he shouldn't go after Emma so soon. He new her, if she slept over the information, she would be more tolerant on the next day.

He turned around, intending to check how his old apartment was.

**~X~**

The sound of a buzz made Gold jump. He wondered if someone was ringing the doorbell, but then he realized it was the phone.

He stood up slowly, picking it on the fourth ring.

"Gold! It is Emma" her voice sounded hoarse. "I was wondering... if you were coming..."

That made him wake up from his stupor.

"Yes, yes, I am. Are you all right, dearie?"

"Yeah, great. A little short of breath, maybe. I am not sure. I do feel weird. Can you please come over?"

He recognized her panicked voice and stood up, going to the room to change.

"I am on my way!"

He changed as fast as possible and left the building hurriedly. As he opened the gate on his way to the street he noticed a man looking at the mailboxes, but didn't pay attention to it. He went straight to the street, quickly finding a cab.

Neal turned around when he heard someone passing by fast, a familiar sound on the steps. He didn't see who passed by, but the gate was still hanging open, so he took the opportunity and went upstairs.

He didn't have the keys anymore, but there was nothing he couldn't do with a little metal clip.

He was expecting to see the same apartment he left a few months prior, bur he was surprised to see changes. There were dirty dishes on the sink, a bag of chips in the couch and a coat hanging on one of the chairs. But what surprised him the most were his drawings on the coffee table.

"What the..."

He looked at the old drawings, scenes he knew pretty well form his nightmares. In the middle of them was a sketch he made of Emma.

Was it possible that she had been to the apartment? Was it really her the one that had been there? There was something about the place, a presence...

He entered the bedroom and it was there that he saw the most shocking thing. The glass of water by the bedside, with a little piece of paper on top of it.

That was something from his childhood, something only one person in the world used to do – his dad.

He used to say that he liked to have a glass of water by the bed in case he got thirsty. But after finding a fly swimming on one of his glasses, he started to cover it with a little piece of cardboard or carton.

Neal sat on the bed, staring at the glass.

Was it possible...? But his dad was dead!

Could he have possibly been to that apartment?

**~X~**

"What happened?" As soon as Emma opened the door, Gold shot the question. She was glad to see him as the confident, straight to the point man she knew. She needed that, she was starting to panic.

"I don't know, I may be just nervous." She said, breathing in and out.

"Are you feeling any pain?" Gold asked, seeing she was clutching her belly. Was he the one that didn't pay attention or did she get bigger on the last couple of days?

"A little." she said, raising her eyes guiltily.

"We are going to see your doctor, dearie. Where is Henry?"

"In his room. We fought." she answered, once more trying to take a deep breath.

Gold went to the boy's room and knocked.

"Lad, come out! Your mom is not feeling well, we are taking her to the hospital."

The door opened almost immediately.

"Is she ok?"

"That's what we are going to see." Gold said, but his voice sounded worried. "Put your shoes and coat on, come on!"

The three of them made it to the elevator, Gold with a hand on the cane and the other in Emma's back. Henry followed them worriedly, the only one remembering to lock the door and put the keys on his pocket.

"Hey, Brian." the other boy was coming out of the elevator as they approached it. He watched as Gold hurried Emma inside.

"Is everything alright?"

"My mom is not feeling well, so we are taking her to the doctor." Henry said as he got in. "I'll see you later."

"Hope you feel better, Mrs. Swan!" the boy said before the doors shut.

Henry looked at his mother sheepishly.

"I am sorry, Mom. I did it again. I shouldn't have fought with you."

"It's alright, kid." she managed to say. "It is not your fault."

Mother and son thought the same thing, then looked at Gold.

"What? What happened?"

"We went to Tony's burgers."

Gold waited until the three of them were on the back seat of a taxi to start the lecture.

"I told you to be careful with what you eat. Remember what your doctor said about not too much salt?"

"That was not the problem, Grandpa." Henry said, sitting between the two of them. "The problem was that my dad showed up."

"Baelfire? He showed up?"

Emma closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing, trying not to think about the headache. She rested her hand on her belly and was glad to feel a strong kick as an answer.

Henry got closer to his grandpa and whispered:

"I think that's what got my mom nervous. She fought with my dad. And I fought with her after that."

"Did your father say anything..." Gold also whispered. "What did they talk about?"

"I don't know, they left the restaurant. They hugged, and my mom looked happy. Then he hugged me, and my mom kind of changed. Then they went outside and fought."

"Where did he go? Did he say?"

"I don't think so."

Gold thought that his son might had gone back to the apartment and immediately wanted to check. But as he looked up to an Emma as white as paper clutching her belly, he knew he couldn't do so.

"Still there, dearie?" he asked as the taxi stopped.

"Are we here?"

"Yes, we are."

Gold paid the taxi as Henry and Emma entered the hospital. As he followed then he thought about his son. Now he knew Emma was pregnant again. And, if he did go to his old apartment, he also knew his father was alive.

**~X~**

Henry sat on the waiting room, his leg bouncing. The doctor was talking to his mother and grandpa, and they asked him to leave. He looked at his Mom's cell phone, left with him. He had a little idea on his mind, but wondered if he would be brave enough to put it into practice.

That may be his only chance.

He held the cell phone, looking for his grandpa's number. He had told Henry that his dad had probably went back to his old apartment. The boy wondered if that was right.

The first time he hang up before someone had the chance to answer. He reasoned he was being a fool, his dad probably got himself another apartment or was staying in a hotel. But by third time he tried to call the phone was answered right after the first beep.

"Who is it?" a deep voice asked.

Henry couldn't find his voice.

"Oh, come on!" Neal sounded about to hang up.

"Wait!"

There were two seconds of silence.

"Henry?"

"Yeah.." the boy said, not ready to call him dad yet "I am sorry about what happened. About Mom fighting with you."

"It is ok, kid, she is just angry with me. It has nothing to do with you, ok?"

"Did you come back for real?" Henry asked, afraid of the answer.

"Yes, I did. I do not intend to leave you or your mom ever again."

"Why did you left before?"

Neal sighed.

"I had reasons to do so. It is a long and complicated story, and I will tell you one of this days. But not over the phone."

"Ok."

"Is your mom around?"

"Not really."

Neal noticed a higher pitch on the boy's tone.

"Is everything alright?"

"I am kind of scared." Henry finally confessed, taking that weight out of his chest. Maybe that was the first reason he called, he needed to talk to someone about that. "Mom, Grandpa and the doctor were going to talk and they asked me to leave the room. That means something bad, right?"

That sentence made Neal's head spin for so many reasons.

"Doctor? Where are you? Is your Mom alright? What do you mean your grandpa, which Grandpa?"

But Henry didn't want to give answers. He was feeling scared and guilty and lonely. He wanted to be reassured.

"Everything is going to be alright, isn't it? My Mom is going to be just fine..." he said, his eyes tearing up.

Neal thought about the subject for half a second. Emma wouldn't want to see him, but Henry needed him.

"Where are you? Give me the name of the place, and I will be there as soon as I can."


	13. Sugar and spice and everything nice

_I was overwhelmed with the big response I got for last chapter. It is good to see I am not the only one that appreciates what a good character Neal is and how unfair was his destiny. I will do my best to write him in character, and give him his deserved happy ending here. :)  
>So, I came up with a name for Belle's baby, tell me what you think of it. We still have two babies to name, so if any of you have ideas let me know.<br>This time I promisse I will not finish with a cliffhanger. ;)_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 13 – Sugar and spice and everything nice<strong>_

"Do you have a name yet?" Belle looked up. She had rested, and now was feeding her daughter. She smiled to Snow.

"I've been thinking about it and I did come up with something."

"Tell me." Snow said, sitting by her side.

"I've watching her, and she looks so... calm and graceful. Something I am not, see, I tend to be clumsy."

"She looks like you." Snow said, watching the baby.

Belle smiled.

"She may have my nose. But the rest is Rumple's."

Snow wrinkled her forehead.

"I can't tell if you are right or not at this point." she said, what made the other laugh. "So, what name did you think of?"

"Annabelle. See, she is a smaller, more gracious picture of me. She would have my name, but also her own. The name Anna means gracious in Latin. It is everything I think she is – Anna, Belle; gracious and beautiful."

"Wow. You did give a lot of thought to this."

Belle smiled.

"Rumple always said that names are really important."

Snow remembered a scene in a dark jail cell, the man demanding to know Emma's name.

"Yes, he did. Let me look at her." Belle put the baby on Snow's arms and the other woman smiled. "Annabelle. I think it fits her. We can call her Anna for short."

"That's what I thought."

"Hello, sweet girl." Snow cooed. "You have a mommy that loves you, a really cool big brother and lots of uncles and aunts that are eager to meet you."

Belle felt the tears prickling her eyes, but she was smiling. It was not going to be just the two of them, they had people to help. They would be ok without the other half of their little family.

"Talking about that, Aurora really wanted to see you and the baby, are you up to getting some visits?"

"Sure."

Snow returned the baby to her mother. Belle looked at the little girl's blue eyes – she had the impression the color was going to change. She hoped her daughter could have Rumple's dark eyes. She kissed the girl's head, sniffing her soft baby smell.

"Welcome, my dear Annabelle."

**~X~**

"Henry." the boy looked up as Gold called him. He stood.

"Is Mom alright?"

"Yes. It was her blood pressure again, but it is back to normal now."

"So she is fine." he said, still worried.

"Yes. And your sister too."

"My... sister?"

Gold smiled.

"The doctor that checked the baby didn't know your Mom was keeping it a secret... it slipped."

"Cool, I am having a sister!"

Gold smiled and guided the boy through the hallway.

"Come on, your Mom wants to see you before she rests."

He opened the room door and Henry ran in.

"Mom!" the boy hugged her, and she kissed the top oh his head. "I am having a sister!"

"Yes, you are, kid. Excited?" she said, her voice low and tired.

"Of course! Are you feeling better?"

"I am. I am sorry that I scared you."

"You scared even the doctors." Gold said, looking pointedly at her.

"I will take it easy. I will need to, since I am grounded now."

"What does that mean?" Henry asked, looking at his grandfather.

"She will stay in the hospital for the next two days. And when she goes home, she will be in bed rest."

"I already called work, I got my leave. I am going to stay home until your sister is born."

"I am sorry, Mom."

"Hey, it was not your fault. I was the one that insisted on going in adventures and eating cheeseburgers. But I am ok now, so don't worry."

Henry thought about telling her he had called his father. But he didn't want to make her nervous again. And she sounded sleepy already. Gold put a hand on Henry's shoulder.

"Say goodnight, boy. I will take you to the cafeteria to eat something, so we can let your mom rest."

Henry popped a kiss on his mom's cheek. "Good night." he said, caressing her belly.

"I will see you in the morning." She said, then looked at Gold. "Thank you."

Gold took Henry to the cafeteria and bought sandwiches for the two of them. As they sat to eat, he asked what had been in his mind the whole night.

"What did your father say to you, Henry? Did he seem ok?"

"He looked fine. He said it was good to see me. Like he had seen me before."

Gold nodded, thinking how much he wanted to see his son. But he couldn't leave Emma for now.

"I called him." Henry confessed , looking at his sandwich.

"You did? How?" Gold asked, kicking himself for not thinking about telephones before.

"I called his old apartment, and he picked up. I was worried about Mom."

"What did he say?"

"He is coming here."

Gold stood up.

"How long has it been since you called?"

"Maybe twenty minutes."

Gold left his sandwich on the plate, walking in the direction of the main entrance. Henry decided to follow him, but managed to wolf down his sandwich before doing so.

They sat by the entrance for long minutes, both of them quiet and nervous. At certain point a nurse showed up, asking if Gold was Emma Swan's relative and saying he needed to sign some papers. He told Henry he would be back right away and the boy stared outside.

After some minutes, he saw a man approaching the entrance.

"Henry!" Neal said, running to the boy. They hugged tightly, and Henry felt instantly better with the hug. He was still a little scared, he was never sure how much his Mom was really telling him and how much she was omitting to protect him.

"How are things? How is your mom?"

"She is sleeping now. She looked kind of ok, just really tired and worried. The doctor put her in bed rest."

Neal nodded, pressing his hand on Henry's shoulder and closing his eyes. It was good to have his boy there, in front of him.

"My sister is fine too."

Neal opened his eyes, looking at him.

"So your mom is _really_ having a girl?" he asked, the smile spreading over his face.

"Yeah." Henry said, also smiling. "She didn't want to know, but the doctor mentioned it was a girl today."

Then something occurred to Henry.

"Mom said something to me... is it true?"

"What are you talking about?" Neal asked, walking to the closest plastic chair so he could look in Henry's eyes.

"She said you are also... the father of my sister." he said, looking at his hands.

"Yes, Henry. I am your and your sister's father." he said, not understanding the boy's demeanor. "Listen, I know that, up to know, I haven't been the best of the fathers. But I am here now and I am going to be all the way until your sister is born, and beyond. Because now I know about you guys."

"You didn't know before?"

"When I left the first time I didn't know your mom was pregnant with you. One guy that knew her told me I needed to leave her... she had things to do and I was on the way. I did send her our car and some cash, so she could start fresh."

"The yellow bug?" Henry asked with a smile. "That's why she like it so much!"

Neal smiled too. Good memories floated in his mind every time he stared at that bug.

"Listen, son. There are many things that you may not understand right now but I promise you, I love you, I love your mother, and I already love your sister. Whatever happens from now on, I want to be part of your lives. And if I do screw up somehow, you have my permission to kick my ass."

That brought a smile to Henry's face.

"You are just like grandpa."

That put Neal's mind to work again.

"About that... what Grandpa are you talking about? Is it your Grandpa David?"

Henry looked at him, wrinkling his eyes.

"No, Grandpa Gold! Who is David?"

"You mean your Grandpa is here, in New York?"

"Yes. He found us some months ago. He said he made a long trip, but couldn't find you. Where were you?"

"Bae?" a surprised voice made both of them look up. Neal stood, staring at the man in front of him for some seconds, his mouth opened.

"Papa!" he whispered, and it was enough for Gold to take the last steps to him and pull him in a tight embrace.

Neal touched his father's back as they hugged, like he couldn't believe he was actually there. He breathed in, the sweet smell of his childhood filling his nostrils, the unique smell of the man that used to hug him when he had a nightmare and tell him bedtime stories. The two of them stayed like that for a long minute, watched closely by Henry. No one else in the waiting room seemed to care, long hugs were something common there. And Neal had changed to some clothes he found on his old apartment, so he didn't look like he had just left a Broadway play anymore.

"How... how did this happen?" Neal asked, looking at his father's face as they let go. He looked exactly the same.

"I am not sure myself, but I made my way back. So did you, Bae!"

"I don't understand that nickname." Henry said, making father and son look in his direction. Neal smiled.

"That's because you don't know my real name, kid."

That surprised Henry.

"And what would that be?"

"Baelfire." Neal said, smiling to his father.

**~X~**

They had many things to talk about but there were also more urgent things on the way. Gold decided to ask Neal to take Henry home. He didn't want the boy once more sleeping on the hospital, but he also didn't want to leave Emma alone. He knew that asking Neal to stay was not an option. The doctor was clear when he said that a big part of Emma's high blood pressure was due to stress, so she shouldn't be exposed to exciting or stressful situations. And waking up to see Neal was going to be a surprise, to say the least.

But before leaving, Neal asked to see her. Since she was asleep, Gold didn't see a problem.

She was in a deep sleep when he entered the room, and he moved as quietly as possible. He gently pulled a lock of hair of her face, looking at her calm expression. Then looked at her belly. Really slowly he stretched his fingers, lightly touching it. He imagined the small baby in there, safe and warm.

"Hey, kid." he whispered, his voice barely audible.

As an answer he got a kick. His eyes teared up.

"I love you too. Can't wait to meet you." he took his hand of, as slowly as he had put it.

He looked one more time at Emma's face, then left her room.

"Tomorrow morning you can come back to stay with your mother. Now, listen to your father." Gold said to Henry. He knew that was going to be something good, both Henry and Neal needed that time together. "We talk in the morning, son. I will try to calmly introduce the idea of you showing up to Emma. I will discuss the subject with her doctor so we can see what's the best way to do it"

Neal nodded. He gave Henry one dollar and told the boy to get candy from the vending machine. He watched his son leave, then looked at his father.

"How is she, Papa? What happened that she ended up in the hospital?"

"High blood pressure, it is her second episode. She is restricted to bed now, should eat just what is approved by her doctor." Gold sighed, his voice tired. "When we got to the hospital, she was starting to have contractions. They were able to stop it, since that would have been pretty bad. They don't think the baby would have survived."

Neal put his hands in his head, not wanting to imagine that scenario.

"It is alright now, son."

"It is my fault, I shouldn't have just showed up like that."

"There was no way you could know. And everything is fine now. Go, take Henry home, enjoy some time with him. If anything changes I'll call you."

"Thank you, Papa." he said, hugging his father.

Henry came back with a bag of skittles, looking pretty happy.

"Bye, grandpa." he said, also giving the man a hug.

"Bye, Henry. I will see you tomorrow."


	14. News from a far away land

_Thank you for your suggestions on names! I've been thinking about something too... I didn't decide it yet, but the subject may be explored in some chapter soon.  
>So, this one is mostly talking - but talking is needed for the evolution of the story! Oh, and I discovered I suck on trying to write old, prophecy-style things, so sorry for my attempt.<br>Have a great Sunday, all. :)  
><em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 14 – News from a fair away land<strong>_

"Come in!" Henry said, opening the door and sounding really excited.

Neal entered the apartment, amused by the boy. The first thing he noticed when he saw his son again was how much he had grown on the time they spent apart. He was looking more like a teenager than a kid. But then the boy would do things like get all excited over skittles, or make silly little jokes, and Neal would see the kid in him.

"I can give you a tour." Henry said, closing the door and taking his shoes off.

"I would love that."

"We moved here not so long ago, we came to New York after a fire in our old apartment in Boston."

"Really?" Neal asked, faking surprise. Of course, they would need a fake storie about how they ended up driving in a road with nothing but the yellow bug.

"Yeah. We were not in the apartment when it happened, but it pretty much burned everything we had. Well, everything besides what we had with us."

Neal looked around the living room, seeing Emma in each little detail. He wondered, if they had made it to Tallahassee, that's what their house would look like?

"I know that picture..." he said suddenly, laying eyes on the picture they had taken on a carnival, a long time ago.

"Mom said it is the only picture you have together." Henry said. "She was lucky it was on her bag in the bug."

Neal smiled to that.

"She still keeps a bag in the bug?"

"All the time. I always thought it was weird, but then she told me about when you guys met..."

Neal looked at his son.

"We were young and dumb, and what we did was not totally right."

Henry rolled his eyes.

"I already heard that from Mom, you don't need to worry. It is not like I'll go out and steal a car or something."

Neal thought how exactly Henry turned out to be such a nice boy. His parents were thieves, his grandmother a bandit, one of his grandfathers was the Dark One and his adopted mother was the Evil Queen. The kid could have done much worst.

"You are not doing it because you don't need to." Neal said, happy that his son was not alone.

"Can you tell me stories? About when you guys were together?"

Neal smiled. The boy's eyes were sparkling in excitement.

"Yes. Right after you get ready to bed, it is getting pretty late."

**~X~**

Henry was too old to be tucked in, but he didn't say anything as his father spread the covers over him, making sure the boy was comfortable.

"So we got locked in the bathroom, because we didn't know the room wasn't vacant, and we couldn't just leave." Neal was telling one of his adventures with Emma and Henry was listening intently. "We waited until they fell asleep so we could try to leave the room and it would be a perfect plan... but they had a dog."

"Did you get caught?" Henry asked eagerly.

"No, luckily it was a pretty sweet dog. I petted him, your Mom unlocked the door... and we ran as fast as we could."

"Wow. Did you _ever _got caught?"

Immediately the story of the watches came to Neal's mind, but he shook it off.

"Just once or twice. But I can tell it another day. It is way pass midnight and I need to take you back to the hospital tomorrow morning. Good night, kid." Neal said, not sure how to do that. He remembered how his own dad used to kiss him good night and wish sweet dreams, but that was when he was little. Henry was probably too old for that.

He turned off the lights and was by the door when he heard a shy voice.

"Dad?"

Those three letters made his stomach flutter. He turned around.

"Yes, Henry?"

"I am glad you came back."

Neal smiled.

"I am glad too, son." he looked at the boy, a sleepy smile on his face.

_Hell with that, _he thought as he came back and left a kiss on the boy's forehead.

"Do you know Mom's superpower?" the boy asked in a sleepy voice. Neal nodded his head. "I have one too. I wished really hard that you came back, that I could meet you. It worked."

"It sure did." Neal whispered, smoothing the boy's hair and watching his eyes closing. "Thank you."

**~X~**

"What do you want to talk to me about? Is everything alright?" Emma asked, as Gold closed the door of her room. A nurse was by the side of her bed, making notes in her chart.

"It is about Henry. He was really scared yesterday when the doctor talked to us, and he ended up calling Bae's apartment." Gold explained calmly. She nodded. "Bae was there, he talked to Henry. And he came over to the hospital."

"Is he here now?" she asked, and Gold saw her vitals raising just a little.

"No. I sent him and Henry home."

"Wait. You sent Henry home with Neal?"

"I didn't want the boy to spend the night in the hospital, and he needed some time with his father."

"But you didn't consult me!" Emma said, raising her voice. The nurse looked pointedly at Gold.

"Emma, please, you can't get upset." he pleaded. "But there is also no way you can just ignore you met my son yesterday. He is back."

"I told him to stay away." she said, making an effort to calm herself down.

"He is not going to do that, and we both know that. For the sake of the kids, you'll need to learn to be at peace with that."

Emma hugged her belly, closing her eyes. It had been just her and Henry for so long that she wasn't used to take in account other people's opinion, or consider sharing the responsibilities.

"These kids deserve to have a mother _and _a father, Emma." she heard Gold's voice.

She opened her eyes, making a tear roll down her face. But she looked at him fiercely.

"One wrong move that he makes... just one thing that can hurt _my _kids the slightest... and he won't ever see them again."

Gold thought that was an improvement. At least she allowed his son to see the kids. They would work it from there.

"What time is he bringing Henry back? Did you call him? How is Henry?"

Gold checked his watch.

"They must be here at any moment now. I will check if they arrived."

Gold was about to leave when Emma called him, adding:

"I don't want to see him. He can drop Henry off and go."

**~X~**

It would be a lie to say that Neal wasn't hurt when he got to the hospital and his father told him Emma didn't want to see him. But he was not surprised.

"Give her time, son. She closes herself to anyone that tries to get closer, you just need to prove yourself."

Neal knew that. He hugged Henry, that said goodbye and went in the direction of the rooms by himself.

"How did it go?" Gold asked, eying Henry.

"Well. It was really nice to spend some time with him. But I also need to spend some time with you, Papa."

Gold looked at him, noticing his expression was not light anymore.

"What is it?"

"I have many things to tell you."

Gold let Emma know that he and Neal were going back to his apartment, but they would be back by the end of the day so Neal could take Henry home again. The next day was a Monday and Emma didn't want the boy missing school. She gave her permission for Neal to take the boy to school, writing down a list of instructions.

As Neal caught the subway with his father he thought about how unreal that seemed – he and his father, in that modern world without magic. That was something that 14-years-old Baelfire had wanted desperately.

"Did you go back to the Enchanted Forest?" Gold asked once they were back at Neal's apartment and he heat a kettle for tea.

"Yes, we did. Regina sent us there to prevent Pan's curse of hitting us."

"That's what I thought. How is Belle?"

Neal smiled.

"She is good, or at least as good as possible given the situation. The first weeks were not easy, for her or for me. But we were there to each other... she is truly amazing, Papa."

Gold sat heavily on the couch.

"I know that. I don't know how she fell for me."

"She sees the good in you." Neal said, bringing two mugs over the coffee table. "But there is one important thing I meant to tell you."

"So tell me already." Gold asked, worried.

"It is about a prophecy... a prophecy that Belle said you once predicted, that mentioned four kids."

Gold looked at his son curiously.

"The prophecy of the four, I do remember that. But why did she mention that? I didn't even know she had knowledge about that."

"Here is the thing." Neal said, staring at his cup "When we got to the Enchanted Forest, we met Aurora and Phillip, and they were expecting a baby."

Gold nodded his head, to show he was following.

"Some weeks later Snow announced her pregnancy. What just added to the one we already knew..."

"Which one?"

Neal looked up, into his father's eyes.

"Belle got pregnant, Papa."

"Belle?" Gold mumbled, his face contorted "My Belle is pregnant?"

"Well, by now the baby might have been born already." Neal said, thinking about his little sister and wondering if everything was ok with her and Belle.

"The sons of hope and the daughters of light and darkness." Gold repeated, closed eyes. "Emma's would be the fourth baby."

Neal just watched his father, his expressions probably the same he had as he did the Math some months ago.

"Does that mean... am I...?"

Neal smiled.

"There is a high probability that you already have a daughter, Papa."

"A daughter?" Gold asked, as if not believing. "I have a daughter?"

Neal laughed.

"Who would tell that both of us would have little girls at the same time, huh?"

"Oh, Belle... she needed to go through all of this alone... and thinking I was dead..."

"One of the reasons that delayed me on coming was her... I didn't want to leave her, but I didn't want Emma passing through this alone either. There was no way I could know you were taking care of her."

"I was taking care of your Emma and you were taking care of my Belle... both where in good hands. Now, if we just can be all together, in the same world, at the same time... I don't know how. I don't have magic anymore."

"I was focused on coming here, I never planned a trip back."

Suddenly Gold remembered something peculiar about the prophecy.

"A messenger..."

"What is that?"

But Gold didn't answer him, he repeated the prophecy as he remembered, analyzing it.

"Four kids shall be born  
>Not from the same mother, but different ones<br>They, the sons of Hope and the daughters of Light an Darkness  
>Once reunited will open the path to a new, peaceful era<br>Those who don't believe will believe, those who were lost will be found  
>That who meant to kill will become the messenger that, if successful,<br>Will bring the last of the four to the place she belongs"

Neal looked at his father, the meaning of that sinking in.

"The last of the four is your daughter for sure, Bae."

"So a messenger will take us back? But who would that be?"

"That who meant to kill... if is someone that wanted to kill one of us, we have a big list."

"Does that mean we need to wait?"

"Unless we come up with a plan, that's what we will do." Rumple said, his mind once more going back to Belle and his daughter.


	15. Baby steps

_I really enjoyed writing this chapter, not sure why - it's even longer than usual!  
>Emma is stubborn, Neal is patient and Henry and Gold ship them - and this is the result, I guess.<br>Let me write a note to dassawhaa - I loved your way of writing the prophecy. I think I will try harder to write something like that, study a little. English is not my first language, and that is something that I could have easily written in my mother tongue, but in English I didn't even know how to start. Thanks for showing me a way to do it, I will try to improve mine. :)_

* * *

><p><em><strong>15 – Baby steps<strong>_

On Monday Neal picked Henry up at school so instead of riding the bus the boy could walk with him home. Henry told him about his day at school and complained about the amount of homework and Neal felt happy. The boy trusted him so much already. He was not going to disappoint his son.

"What are these bags?" Henry asked, noticing his dad was carrying two big plastic bags.

"I went to the mall for lunch, and happened to pass in front of some children stores... It is a little gift for your mom."

"I don't think she bought anything yet. Not besides what her coworkers gave her."

"Really?"

Henry sighed, opening the gate to the building complex.

"The day she found out about the pregnancy I got home and I could tell she had been crying. Since them, she always looks worried or upset. Things got a little better since Grandpa has been around tough."

"So, what are you telling me..." Neal said, worried "Is that you think your mom is not accepting this pregnancy well?"

Henry unlocked the door of the apartment and they went in.

"She loves the baby, I know that, and she will take good care of her. I think she is just afraid. It was hard for her to raise me by herself."

Neal looked at the boy, his mind knowing that was a lie, but a lie that she believed to be true. If she had kept Henry that was probably what would have happened.

"She is not going to be alone this time, kid." Neal guaranteed him. "Now, where can I put these?"

"In the extra room, that's where it is going to be my sister's room." Henry said, walking to the only closed door in the hallway.

He opened the door and Neal peeked in.

"Son? Where exactly is your sister going to sleep?"

The room was totally empty, the walls white. There were not even curtains covering the window.

"Mom said she was going to buy furniture and stuff, but she never came around and did it for real."

"She does know that the baby will be here in less than a month, right?"

Henry wrinkled his forehead.

"She said something about her boss having a crib he was not going to use anymore, but she needed someone to help her bring it here."

Neal put the bags in the floor.

"Son, I have an idea... do you know how we can talk to this boss of her?"

Emma was going to be released from the hospital only at night, so Henry and Neal had plenty of time to put their plan into action. They left the building, Henry showing his dad how to get to the police station where his mom was working.

Gold was in the hospital, trying to call the apartment from Emma's cell phone.

"No one answers." he said as Emma came from the bathroom wearing an oversized t-shirt and leggings.

"Where are they? Henry should be home from school already."

"Well, they are not in the apartment. Maybe they went out to eat something."

"Let's go straight home and we will meet Henry there. And I really hope he is home when we get there." she said, a sharp tone in her voice. "I am happy my doctor decided to release me earlier, I really want my bed."

"Something tells me that after a couple of days in your bed you are going to dread it." Gold said, making a little joke, and Emma smiled. He was trying to act normal, but she could tell there was something off about the man.

"I am more excited than ever for Henry's play." Emma said, smiling. Her doctor had allowed her to do that. The play was going to be on the next weekend, and since it most certainly was not going to have strong emotions and she was going to be seated most of the time, the doctor had given his permission for her to go.

It was around seven when Emma and Gold got to the building complex. She opened the door with her key but, as they entered, she heard voices coming from the rooms.

"Henry?" she called, certain that she had heard more than one adult voice.

The boy came running.

"Mom!" he said, surprised and happy. "We were supposed to pick you up at eight!"

"My doctor discharged me earlier. It was a surprise." She said, noticing the way the boy was nervously twisting his hands. "What is going on?" She asked, looking in the hallway's direction. It was all silent now.

"I kind of had a surprise too. But you came home too early. Maybe you can take a walk..."

"It is ok, Henry." Emma startled when she heard Neal's voice. She looked up, and he came out of the empty bedroom they had. "It doesn't look like we are going to finish it today anyway."

"And I am sorry, but I really should go home." Emma startled again. Right after Neal came the last person she expected to see – her boss. "Swan, I hope you are feeling better."

"I am, Sir... What exactly is going on here?"

"Why don't you go to the bedroom and take a look?"

She obeyed him, passing Henry, Neal and then Sullivan in the hallway. She looked back, and the four boys were staring at her.

She gasped when she entered what before was a boring, empty room. Two walls had a a light green color covering them. The paints and brushes were still laying around, part of the floor covered in newspaper. By one corner there were wooden pieces and something that was starting to resemble a crib.

"I promised I would give you Ella's crib, she doesn't need it anymore." Sullivan said, watching her. "I started putting it together, but I really need to get home. Your boyfriend can finish it for you." he said, putting his coat on.

Emma looked at Neal, but Henry was quick to come in his father's rescue.

"We told him a million times it was not like that, Mom."

Sullivan laughed.

"Have fun, kids. Emma, let me know when the little one arrives."

Gold had made his way to the room to take a look.

"If you need any help with organizing, I can do it." he volunteered.

"Cool!" Henry said, excited. "The three of us can finish it! Dad, can I paint a little?"

"Now, why don't we finish this another day?" he said, looking at Emma and knowing pretty well she hadn't planned on running on him. When he and Henry decided to work in the room, he expected to leave it as good as possible then drop Henry off at the hospital and leave.

But Emma was not looking in their direction.

"What is that?" she asked, pointing at some bags in the corner.

Henry went to her side.

"Some things that Dad bought for little munchkin."

"Who?" she asked, and Henry's ears got bright red.

It was a little joke between him and his dad since Neal mentioned that he 'bought some thing for little munchkin'. They had spent the rest of the afternoon calling the baby that. Henry liked it, it was like a pet name even though his sister didn't even had a name yet.

"My sister." Henry said "He bought some toys too."

Emma was frozen in place, not knowing what to say, and Neal decided it was a cue for him to leave.

"Well, I gotta go. Still have some things to organize back in my apartment. Henry, it was a fun afternoon."

The boy went over his dad, hugging him tightly as Emma watched.

They went to the hall where Neal got his coat and boots.

"Are you staying, Papa?" he asked Gold.

"Just to assure they are alright, them I will meet you."

Neal nodded.

"There is a blood pressure monitor in one of the bags, can you make sure that Emma sees it? Her doctor said it would be good to monitor her blood pressure, at least now she can do it at home."

"Of course." answered Gold, amazed by the quick thinking of his son. He had said on the day before that he had saved some money for his wedding, back when he was with Tamara, and was glad to see that his savings account was still untouched. But Gold didn't imagine he had spent his morning shopping for Emma and the baby.

Neal opened the door, but Henry was still clinging to him.

"Pal, I will come back one of this days to take you for some ice cream, ok? Take care of your mom."

"Neal." he raised his eyes. Emma was standing a few feet away, her arms crossed over her chest in what looked like a protective posture – but she was more uncomfortable than defensive. "Thank you."

"No problem, Emma. You guys have a good night."

Henry finally let go of him and Neal left, closing the door behind him.

"Well, let's organize those bags while your mom takes a shower." Gold said to Henry.

The two of them went to do that but Emma stared at the closed door some seconds more.

"Dearie, you better take a shower and go to bed."

She looked at Gold, laughing lightly. She was hopeless with the three generations of boys watching over her.

**~X~**

Around ten Neal's phone rang. He heard his dad's voice in the other end of the line.

"I decided to stay for the night, Henry is pretty scared."

"Why is that?"

"He has been having nightmares. I want Emma to have a good night of sleep, she needs her rest."

"He didn't have any nightmares on the last nights. Do you want me to come over?"

"No, it is fine. They are both sleeping now."

Neal sighed.

"Papa? Is there a way we can make them recover their memories?"

"Yes. With magic or a potion."

"Nothing that they sell in a Drugstore?"

Neal could hear the smile in his father's voice.

"I am afraid not, son."

"Not even true love's kiss?" he asked timidly.

"Memory spells have a different way of working... under special circumstances it may work, yes. But it is not guaranteed."

"Do you think it is worth a try?"

"Not with Emma right now, Bae. Who knows what will happen with her blood pressure if it does work and she remembers everything. Even if she doesn't. You should wait. You can try with Henry."

"I kissed him goodnight the other day, did nothing."

"Like I said, special circumstances. I should go. It looks like the lad is awake."

"Ok. I will see you tomorrow, Papa."

Neal hung up the phone, but kept staring at it. He should be the one there, not his father. It still amazed him that Emma had let his father in so much. That was a good sign, he still had a chance, even with her fake memories.

**~X~**

"Can Papa take me?"

Emma looked at Henry curiously.

"Are you calling him Papa now?"

"He always calls grandpa that, I wanted to try."

"How did it go?"

"Kind of weird. So... can Dad take me to the play?"

"We are all going, kid. We can go together."

"Really?"

"Really."

"I thought you didn't want to see him."

Emma sighed. She sat in the couch.

"Your grandpa does have a point. I need to let him in in yours and your sister's life. Whatever happened between him and me is part of our story, and it has nothing to do with you."

"Ok. I will call him." Henry said, barely waiting until she was finished talking.

She was trying really hard to make peace with that. All Henry talked about for the past days was Neal and everything they had done together and she needed to admit that he took good care of the boy. He didn't disappear either.

She still wanted to understand exactly what happened in the night of the watches or in the night their daughter was conceived. But she didn't feel ready to discuss the subject with him yet.

"Mom! Dad is going to Cinnabon! Can I go with him? Pretty please?"

Emma smiled. She never linked that before, but both Neal and Henry loved that sweet treat.

"Sure, kid. But don't come home talking about the wonderful food you ate. That would be cruel to me and my boring diet."

"Yes!" Henry yelled, immediately putting the phone back in his ear. "Mom said yes. What time will you be here?"

Emma struggled some seconds to raise from the couch. She decided it was a good idea to take a nap. If she could avoid it, she would like not to see Neal. He was respecting her space, not being intrusive, but just looking at him... it was hard for her. Because since the first time she saw him again in the restaurant she realized she had never stopped loving him.


	16. A family to call my own

_Hello there! I am sorry for taking so long, this was a tough one to write, even if it has mostly family scenes. I rewrote it sometimes until I felt like it was good enough... Now that they are reunited once again the focus is on if they can become a family, and how. I kind of struggled with it because there were so many directions where I could go!  
>So, someone asked me if I am going to include the fight with the Witch, and truth is, I don't know yet. When I started this fic I had an idea about how to explore it, but now it doesn't feel like it belongs to this story anymore... I think that if I wrote, it would be in a sequence or another story. But nothing is set in stone yet!<br>Thank for your support, and here we go again! :)_

* * *

><p><em><strong>16 – A family to call my own<strong>_

"Your grandpa told me that you have been having nightmares." Neal said to Henry over his cinnamon roll.

"Yeah. It happens a lot."

"What are they about? Do you feel like talking about it?"

"They don't make much sense, but they scare the heck out of me. Sometimes... sometimes there is this guy pulling my heart out of my chest. Like his hand could pass through my skin or something. Sometimes I am lost in the woods, alone in the dark. The other day..." the boy stopped himself.

"What?"

"The other day I had a nightmare where Grandpa died."

"Henry..." Neal mumbled, angry that even with fake memories hiding the real ones, those would still come and hunt him. "Your Grandpa is here and he is not going anywhere. So am I."

"I know that. I just can't stop having these nightmares. Every night I am scared to go to bed. And I don't want to tell Mom that, because then she will be watching me sleep and I know _she _needs to rest."

"Maybe you can do something about it. Drawing helped me a lot."

"I am not that good at drawing."

"You don't need to be good at it, you just need to pull it out of you, you know? It doesn't need to be drawing. Writing would work too."

The boy looked at his treat, a little sad.

"I will try it."

When they came back to the apartment, Emma was still sleeping.

"Do you think you can finish putting the crib together?" Henry asked. "Grandpa tried, but with his bad leg he couldn't do it for too long."

Neal decided to do exactly that and Henry watched him doing the job, now and then reaching him this or that piece. Henry helped him guess how the parts went together and they had fun just being silly.

Henry watched his father using a scroll driver to secure two long pieces of light wood, two of the last ones they needed to assemble. He remembered just a month or so ago, when they were building the scenarios for the play at school. He had watched the other kids doing exactly that with their parents and had felt so miserable, thinking he would never know the feeling of something so trivial. And there he was.

"Can you take me to school tomorrow, Dad? Brian is sick so his Mom is not taking him to the bus stop."

"If it is ok with your mom I would be glad to do so." Neal answered, testing if the pieces he just put together were holding. "Or your grandpa can do that."

"He is probably going to the library. He has been spending a lot of time there."

Neal nodded. Gold had been researching about magic. Neal had taught him how to use Google, and showed him where the public library was. His father was hoping that they could find the ingredients for a memory potion in that world.

"When can we finish painting the walls?" Henry asked. "Can we decorate it too? Maybe with flowers or something girlish."

Neal laughed.

"Sure, kid. We will take a day to do that." He said, taking a step back and looking at the crib. "What do you think?"

Henry brought over the little mattress that accompanied the crib and both of them looked at it.

"It looks good." Henry stated. "At least now little munchkin has a place to sleep."

"Yeah. I can't wait to see her using it." Neal said in a soft voice. He shook his head, then, remembering that he shouldn't stay for too long. "I should go, Henry, before your mom wakes up. Let me know if she wants me to take you to school tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok, Dad." Henry said, going after him so he could lock the apartment's door.

What they didn't know was that Emma had been awake for some minutes now, laying in bed as she heard their conversation in the room next to hers.

_I am doomed._ she thought to herself, her hand touching the point where her daughter had been kicking her ribs. _Why does he keep being a hell of a good father? It would be so much easier if he was a jerk._

**~X~**

On the next day Neal dropped Henry off and picked him up at school. Emma had allowed it, and she also allowed them to finish the painting in the nursery.

"Hey." Neal said awkwardly as he entered the apartment with Henry, a bag with stickers and decorations they had just bought in his hands.

"Hey." Emma answered, sitting in the living room with a book.

"Did my father leave?" Neal asked, wanting to make small talk.

"Yeah. He prepared lunch then headed to the library."

Neal didn't know what to answer then, but Henry, not noticing his parents uncomfortable dance, exclaimed:

"Come on, Dad! I will get the brushes in the laundry room and you can spread the newspaper!"

Neal laughed with the boy's excitement and when he raised his eyes, Emma was smiling too.

"I would better..." he said, pointing to the room.

"Yes, you would." she answered.

Henry brought his ipod as well, connecting it to a portable speaker and they finished painting the walls as they sang to the songs both liked, or joked to the ones they didn't.

Emma stayed in the living room, listening to the laughs and exaggerated singing voices coming from the room, not stopping herself of smiling now and then.

"Can I use the drill?" Henry asked, amazed. Neal had started to bore holes in the wall so they could put some curtains up and Henry was watching him like he was slaying a dragon or something.

"Just finished it." Neal said, thinking that might not be a good idea. "Can you please reach me those nails?"

Neal showed him exactly how to do it, pleased with the boy's admiration.

By the end of the afternoon Gold arrived, some books under his arm. He had also brought some salad an pasta from a nearby restaurant.

"Where is Henry?" he asked Emma.

"In the nursery. They are finishing painting it."

Gold raised his eyebrows, but didn't make any comment. Each passing day Emma was being more and more permissive about Neal's presence.

He started to take the food out of the bags and Emma watched him.

"Is everything alright, Gold? You have been... distant lately."

"Yeah, yeah." he said, brushing it off. But Emma knew instantly he was lying. "If you are hungry you should come and eat."

She agreed, taking some seconds to manage to stand up from the couch. That kangaroo punch messed up her balance, making her clumsy and big.

She decided to call Henry for dinner – and, if Neal wanted to stay, that would be ok, she told herself.

"Henry, there is din..." she stopped mid-sentence, staring at the room that looked amazingly different.

The walls were all green now and the white crib was by the left side of the room. On that corner, right on top of the crib, there were stickers of pink butterflies in the wall, like they were flying all around. On the right side the window was covered with pink and white curtains. Henry was on top of a stool, putting up some shelves with the help of Neal.

"Do you like it, Mom?" Henry asked with a big smile.

"It's beautiful!" she exhaled. "I like the color... it is perfect for a little girl, but not exaggeratedly girlish..."

"You were never a girl to like pink." Neal said expertly, putting some of the toys he had bought on the shelves.

Emma wondered how it was possible to not see someone for a decade and still know everything about that person, like time had not passed at all.

"What do we have for dinner? I am starving!" Henry said, jumping from the stool and waking Emma from her dazzle.

"Your grandpa brought pasta." she said, and as the boy passed by her she looked at Neal. "You can stay for dinner if you want."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." she said, hating the damn hormones and the way they made her want to stare at him the whole day.

She left the room, not trusting she was not going to say or do something stupid.

Neal glanced a last time at the room then followed her, a small smile playing on his lips.

After dinner, Gold and Neal were ready to leave when the last one remembered something.

"Here, Henry." he said, bringing paper and a pencil to the boy. "I want you to put in this paper whatever fear you have before going to bed, ok? You don't need to show it to anyone, you can even burn it later. I just want you to let all your fears go."

The boy took the paper, nodding, not looking so sure.

"If you can't sleep or you are scared or whatever you can call me, do you hear? I will keep my cellphone around, so you can call at any time, even if it is really late."

That seemed to comfort the boy, that smiled.

"Thank you, Dad."

"Anytime. Now go, finish your homework."

That night Henry slept peacefully through the night.

**~X~**

"Don't forget your sword, Henry!"

The boy entered the apartment running, going back outside with a wooden sword under his arm.

"I will see you soon." Emma shouted as he left.

Neal was going to take him to school by car, since Henry needed to arrive earlier to prepare for the presentation that night. Emma would go with Gold by cab later.

Neal was waiting for Henry in the garage, admiring the bug he thought he would never see again. Emma did a good job on keeping it in a good shape, and he was so happy when Henry told him that his mom had let him drive it.

"I am ready!" he heard the excited voice of his boy to his left. He turned around, and Henry was looking at him, a big backpack on his back and a wooden sword under his arm.

"So let's go!" Neal said, unlocking the car.

He started the car and soon gained the street. Henry talked excitedly as he drove, but as soon as he parked in the school's parking lot, his demeanor changed.

"You nervous, buddy?" Neal asked as they walked to the school buildings, trying to hide his amusement.

"No." Henry snapped, and Neal decided not to make any more comments.

"Henry! Hey, Henry!"

They turned around and a tall girl was running in their direction.

"Andrea!" The boy ran to her, his wooden sword bouncing in his hip.

"Aren't you excited? I know I am!" she said with a smile.

A group of people caught up with her – two little boys fighting and what looked like the mother trying to contain them, and a men talking to an older couple.

"Mom!" Andrea said "This is my friend Henry I told you about!"

The woman scolded the boys once more before turning to her older daughter.

"Henry, it is nice to meet you. Andrea is always talking about you."

"Nice to meet you too. This is my dad." he said, proud.

"I am Neal, nice to meet you." Neal said, shaking their hands.

"I thought you said your mom was the only one coming." Andrea said, straightforward like any kid.

"My mom is coming later, she needs to rest as much as possible before the new baby arrives."

"Oh, you are having a little brother, that is exciting!" Andrea's mom said as all of them resumed their walking.

"Not really." Andrea said, taking a look at her two younger brothers, fighting once more.

"Actually, it is going to be a girl." Neal said, looking then at Andrea's father. "Maybe you can give me some tips on raising girls."

The man pretended to think.

"Well... I can tell you that once they learn how to talk they will never stop. And they have a taste for drama." the man said, winking to his daughter.

They approached the auditorium where the kids should go backstage to get ready. The parents wished good luck and off the two friends went.

"I am sorry, we were not properly presented." Andrea's mom said. "I am Lucille and this is my husband Aaron."

"A pleasure. I am glad that Henry and Andrea are friends, he doesn't make friends easily."

"Andrea is like that too. Since she was in kindergarten that she has just a few friends, usually boys. She complains girls are too girlish." her mother said, laughing.

Neal smiled, wandering what his daughter would look like. Would she be and adventurer like her mother? Or would she be more quiet and shy?

"Should we find seats?" Aaron said, holding the boys by their hands so they wouldn't run away as they have been trying to.

"Actually, I will stay here longer. My father and Emma will arrive soon, I will wait for them."

"Ok, then. Oh, by the way, we are going to have dinner afterwards. If you and your family want to join us, you are more than welcome. I know that Henry an Andrea would like that."

"Thanks for the invitation. I'll check it, maybe if Emma is not too tired."

"Of course. Well, it was nice meeting you."

The family entered the auditorium and Neal stayed by the entrance watching other families passing by, talking and laughing. He couldn't stop smiling either. He had never thought consciously about it, but that was exactly what he wished for his whole life, something that he couldn't find with his father after he became the Dark One, something he couldn't find with the Darlings or with young Emma because destiny intervened. He always wanted that, a group of people tthat was his, people that he would protect with his life, that would make him happy just because they were happy. Things were not perfect, but he had learned a long time ago that perfection didn't exist and it wasn't a requirement for happiness either.

So, as he stood by the entrance watching all the families, he was happy he also had one to call his own.


	17. Small talks, big talks

_Oh, I got excited with this one, it is big! :D  
>To the anom that left me some tips on my writing: Thank you! What you pointed is the kind of thing that sometimes I don't catch if I don't pay attention, since English is not my mother tongue. I will pay more attention to it in the future, so thank you for the help! I am always learning, and I appreciate when you guys help me out with the process. :)<em>

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 17 – Small talks, big talks<strong>_

"How was Henry?" Emma asked, as they took their seats in the audience. "Was he nervous?"

"Yeah, a little. Then he found a friend and I think she calmed him down."

"Don't tell me. Was it Andrea?"

"Yeah, that's her name. She looks like a sweet girl. And her family seems nice too."

"I haven't met her yet but Henry talks about her all the time."

"Do you think..?" he asked with a smirk.

She smiled. She knew exactly what he was thinking.

"I don't know. Maybe he doesn't see it like that yet."

"Maybe I should give him some advice about dating." Neal said, amused.

"Watch out what you are going to tell him, Cassidy." Emma advised, her playful voice sounding like music to him. "You are going to have a daughter, remember?."

That warmed Neal's insides and he had a silly smile on his face when his dad came back with the program for the night. He hadn't seen playful Emma in a long time.

"Take a look on the characters." Gold told Neal. He unfolded the sheet of blue paper, taking a look at the list of student names for the play.

Neal laughed.

"Well, that is ironic." he said to his dad.

Emma raised her eyes of the program.

"What? What is ironic?"

Neal looked at her, thinking how to explain that one.

"There is a misspelling on the text... I mean, this is a school, right?" he mumbled. Then he added, "So, Henry's character is a pirate."

"Yeah. He worked hard on it. He got pretty good in the sword fight."

"I don't doubt that." Neal said, remembering playing with wood swords with the boy not that long ago. Henry told Neal back then that David had taught him a little of swordfighting when Emma and Snow where in the Enchanted Forest.

"I am just glad he is enjoying drama club. He doesn't make friends easily." Emma stated.

Neal dropped his eyes, so did Rumple. For different reasons, that was a truth in every generation of their family. Rumple never had time to just be a kid and Neal, being the son of the coward and later the son of the Dark One, made the other kids distance themselves from him.

Neal remembered his only friend when he was around Henry's age, the neighbor's daughter. Maybe Andrea was for Henry what Morraine once was to him.

The lights were turned off and the parents stopped chatting, focusing their attention in the stage.

**~X~**

The play told the story of a man that lived in Manhattan, but became a pirate because most of the time he was with his nose stuck in books, until the time he could finally travel to the places he had just been in his imagination. Henry played the man, Ben, who became Captain Blood.

After it was finished and the clapping ended, the kids ran to their parents. Henry had a giant smile on his face.

"What did you think?" he asked, after being hugged by his mom.

"You were awesome, kid." She said affectionately.

"Really?" he asked, looking at his grandfather then.

"Dearie, I don't like pirates pretty much. But you just made me have an exception, I liked this Captain Blood of yours."

Henry looked at his father last.

"You did a good job, I was really proud of you."

That made the boy's day and as some of the other kids passed by saying bye, he couldn't stop smiling.

"So, can we go out for dinner with Andrea's family?" Henry asked, looking at his mom.

"I feel fine." she looked at Gold. "I measured my blood pressure before leaving home, it was normal."

Neal taught it was funny that independent Emma was looking at _his _father before making a decision. The older man shrugged.

"If you say you are fine I am going to believe it. But if you feel tired you need to tell us."

Neal tried not to laugh but it was no use. Soon the other three were looking at him curiously.

"I am sorry... but the face... man, the face you just made, Emma. It looked so much like a face I would make as a kid when I wanted my father to buy me some toy."

"Right?" Henry said, laughing too. "She does that when she asks grandpa something!"

Emma rolled her eyes, saying: "Ok, let's go before I change my mind!" And started walking.

Henry and Neal were still laughing and Gold looked at then for two seconds, not understanding what was so funny.

"Come on you two."

Neal followed his father, a hand on Henry's shoulder. He had noticed on the past weeks that not only Emma had let Gold in, she had let him take care of her. And that was a big thing for someone that always wanted to look strong.

They got to the parking lot, where Neal unlocked the car.

"I can drive." Emma said, reaching for the keys.

"Nice try. Go, passenger seat!"

"Can _I_ sit in the front?" Henry asked.

"There is no way your mom will be able to leave the car if she sits in the back." Gold said. "Let the ones with kangaroo pouches sit in the front, boy."

Henry didn't make a big deal out of it, climbing in the back and telling everybody about the little things that happened backstage.

Neal waited until his father was inside the car and reached him his cane, then waited Emma enter so he could close the door. He went to the driver's side, taking two seconds to savor the moment. He tapped the bug like he would tap the back of an old friend and entered it.

He started the car and noticed Emma was watching him.

"Still remember how to drive stick?" she joked.

"Certain things you never forget." He answered back, aware that after ten years they were seating in their bug like they did so many times before, the only difference was that now they had an audience in the back.

"Can I learn how to drive stick? Dad, can you teach me?" Henry asked, hearing their conversation.

"When you are old enough, Henry. But you need to promise me to always stop at the stop signs." Neal said, faking a really serious tone.

"Of course! Anyone that is smart enough know to do that!"

That made Neal laugh, and he peeked at Emma.

"Not funny." she said, but she was trying hard not to smile too.

He gained the streets in the direction of the restaurant, realizing that for once it was really good to think about the future.

**~X~**

One thing that they didn't think through when they accepted the other family's invitation was the questioning and small talk that for sure would come. As they sat by the table waiting for their orders and Emma listened to Lucille talking about Aaron and her, she knew her turn was coming.

"So, how did you guys meet?" the other woman inevitably shot.

"I am sorry?" Neal asked, not foreseeing that as Emma did.

"You and Emma. How did you meet?"

The two of them tried to drop the subject saying it was a boring story, but Gold put his glass down, looking at them.

"Yeah, tell us the story of how you met." Oh, he was having fun with that.

They were not sure where to go – if they should tell the real story or not – but Henry quickly decided for them.

"My mom was going to steal a car, but my dad was inside it already." He said with a smile. "He had stole it before her."

Andrea's parents and grandparents looked at the couple, surprised.

"Hard times..." Emma mumbled "We both grew up in the system."

"I see." Lucille said, eying Gold. "Well, I am glad you found each other."

"Aren't you a police officer now, Emma?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah."

"That tells you how good she is." Neal said, winking, hoping to end the subject.

"Lucille and I met at college." Aaron said. But his wife was not ready to change the focus of the conversation yet.

"How long have you been together?" she asked.

"Oh. We are not together." Emma pointed.

"It's complicated." Neal said, almost at the same time.

"He's been away."

"I had business in a far away... city."

"We didn't see each other for, like, ten years."

"I didn't know about Henry for a long time..."

"The pregnancy was kind of an accident."

"I was surprised, but we are trying to deal with it."

As the two of them spoke, they didn't realize that the whole table was now watching them. They flushed, moving their hands as they completed each other's sentences, oblivious to the audience.

"It is going to be fine." Lucille finally said, reaching to touch Emma's hand, what startled the other woman. "If you ever need some help, or just someone to talk, you can count on me."

"Thank you..." Emma said, uncomfortable.

They were both happy when Gold stated that Henry looked tired. They had just eaten desert, and it was the perfect time to leave.

"I need to pee first." Henry said. Gold went with him, and Emma turned to Neal, not wanting to give Lucille a chance to ask more personal questions.

"What is up with your dad?" she asked in a low tone. "He seemed weird lately."

Neal thought about it. He had noticed how down his father had been since he told him about Belle's pregnancy.

"Did you know he has a girlfriend?"

"No, I didn't!" she said, surprised.

"Yeah. And she just had a baby. He's sad he can't be with her."

"Why is that? Did they fight?"

"It's a little more complicated than that... see, I was with her before coming here. It is a tough trip. My father can't do it right now."

Emma was going to ask something else, but Gold was coming back so she stopped herself.

They said their goodbyes and left, Emma practically guiding Henry to the car.

"He is exhausted." Gold said, watching the boy sit in the back seat and rest his head against the window. He looked at Emma "Are you feeling ok?"

"Great. I am happy we're going home tough."

Neal started the car, and she breathed in. She had been feeling more comfortable around him but there were many things she still wanted to know. There was something she wanted to ask him, but definitely not with Gold in the back seat listening to everything.

She heard Henry shifting in the back seat and turned around to see that his head was laying in Gold's legs.

"Do you want me to move him?" she asked, worried with Gold's bad leg.

"No, it is fine." the man said, enjoying it. "I remember when Bae would do that."

Emma looked at Neal that, surprisingly, smiled.

"You told great bed time stories, Papa."

Gold passed a hand trough Henry's hair, remembering simpler days. His hand brushed the boy's forehead and he found it weirdly warm.

"I think the lad might have a temperature." he said, feeling Henry's forehead.

Emma turned around the best she could in the small bug and with her bump in the way.

"Really? Let me see."

She touched Henry's face and sighed.

"You may be right. I hope he doesn't catch whatever's been around lately. A lot of kids in his class caught a stomach bug on the past week."

"Do we need to stop by a drugstore?" Neal asked.

"No, I have medicine at home."

"I hope we can get there soon." Neal said, watching the cars ahead of him, New York traffic not improving at all with the rain that started to fall.

Thirty minutes later Neal helped a groggy Henry up to the apartment, Emma following them with her funny pregnant walk and Gold behind, limping lightly.

"99." He said after they took his temperature. "Hey buddy, I need you to help me out. I know you want to go to bed, but you need to take a shower and take medicine before that."

"I am tired!" the boy complained.

"I know. But we need to take care of this fever before anything."

Emma brought the medicines from the first aid kit. It looked like Neal had taken over Gold's place as caretaker, since the other man observed it by the kitchen counter.

"I think I will be si..." It was all Henry managed to say before his dinner was wasted in the kitchen floor.

"It is official, he got the bug." Neal said unnecessarily.

Henry made a face.

"I hate being sick."

"Well, now you know how I felt the past months." Emma said. "Why don't you go brush your teeth and take a shower? You will feel better."

As Henry went to the bathroom, Neal asked her. "Where do you have cleaning products?"

"I can clean that." she said, making her way to the laundry room, but Neal stopped her.

"There is no way you are going to do that. Actually, I think you should keep some distance from this. We don't want _you _getting sick."

Emma looked at Gold, as if asking for help, but he shook his head.

"He is right on this one, dearie."

She sighed, explaining exactly where the cleaning products where.

"I love this kid." she said, rubbing her belly. "But I can't wait to have her out already."

Neal cleaned up the kitchen with his father's help, then checked on Henry. The boy was ready to pass out after the shower, but he made him take a Tylenol before putting him in bed.

He left the boy's room and Emma was by her bedroom's door.

"I already made your father's bed in the living room. There is an extra mattress in my bedroom, I saved in case Henry ever had a friend sleeping over. You can have it."

Neal was too impressed to say something. He was thinking about staying so he could take care of Henry if he got sick during the night, but he expected Emma to oppose to it, at least a little.

"Gold suggested it." she said, rightly reading him. "He has learned how to convince me of anything. But that is something Henry and you also know how to do."

Neal smiled, and she showed him where was the mattress. When he grabbed it and started to pull to the living room, she spoke again.

"I meant.. to ask you something." she said, not being able to hold the question she wanted to make anymore. "How..."

She stopped herself, then looked at her bump.

"How did it exactly happened?"

Neal dropped the mattress, scratching his head. He would need to be honest, or at least, as honest as possible giving the circumstances. _We hooked up because I was mad with my fiancee, but she turned up to be my grandfather's paw and just wanted to kidnap Henry so he could steal his heart, so my father killed her. _Yeah, it didn't sound good.

"We've met here in New York..." he started, being extremely careful not to tell any lies. He might joke about Emma's superpower, but he was not going to defy it either. "I was kind of in a bad mood, I felt there was something wrong with my fiancee. Later I discovered she was cheating on me."

Emma made a surprised noise, but he went on.

"You had your own problems... I think we just wanted to be young and carefree again, you know? We drank together and told old stories and ended up in a hotel." he said, remembering Granny's "We never discussed it."

She didn't say anything for long seconds. He looked up. Her eyes were glassy.

"What is done, is done." she said softly. "We can't be carefree anymore, Neal, not with two kids."

"I know." he whispered. "We both know it now."

"Promise me that you will help me out... that we both will be responsible parents to these kids. I don't want them having anything resembling the kind of childhood we had."

"I promise you, Emma. Henry and little muchkin can count on me."

That brought a smile to her face.

"I passed through hard times because of my dad. But I forgave him. Do you think Henry will forgive me too?" He asked, looking really unsure.

She smiled.

"He already did. It was not your fault, you didn't know about him."

"Thank you for such an amazing boy. And for trusting me again. You are not going to regret it."

Her smile became sad.

"I hope not. Good night, Neal."


	18. Stories of the past

_Thank you for your reviews! About prepositions - yes, I do have a problem with them. Why does English have so many? With the tips you guys are giving me I am being more careful and studying my mistakes, so thank you for the help!  
><em>_I am sorry that the chapter took longer than usual. There is a good part about it though - when I finally found the time to write it, it turned out kind of big. I wanted them to solve some things on this chapter and didn't want to divide it - _Emma and Neal have so many things to go through before this baby is born, and they are running out of time! So I hope you like this one.  
><em>__Oh, next chapter is going to be special! :D_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 18 - Stories of the past<strong>_

It was a long night. Henry woke up two times to throw up and another two to use the bathroom. Neal left a bowl by his bedside and just once did Henry miss the spot. His fever would go up and down and Neal watched it closely. Gold woke up once and helped him around. Three times he saw Emma by her bedroom door, asking if she could help with anything. Neal sent her back to bed.

The next morning found him, Henry and Gold sitting by the kitchen counter, tired and miserable.

"I hate being sick." Henry said for the thirtieth time.

"Me too, so I hope I don't catch this bug of yours." Neal said, rubbing his eyes and standing up. "I am going to call the school to let them know you are not going. And you, kid, will drink another glass of water and go to bed."

The boy didn't complain and Neal took the phone and went to the fridge where he was sure he had seen a note with the school number.

As he dialed it, he heard noises at his back. He turned around. His dad was taking a pan out to start breakfast.

Gold had finished toasts and eggs when Emma entered the kitchen. She stopped by the counter, watching the scene. Father and son were working together to put the table for three.

"Good morning." she said, quickly adding. "I mean, I don't know if I can say that. Was it a long night?"

"Indeed, the young man had a tough night." Gold answered.

"I feel so bad I couldn't do anything. Is he better now?" she asked, sitting by a stool as her back started to hurt.

"He just went back to bed, I hope he can catch some sleep." Neal answered. "Are you hungry?"

"Always." She answered, eyeing the eggs Gold had prepared and knowing she couldn't eat it.

"There is orange juice, fruits and toast for you." Gold said, understanding her stare.

"Yay." she said in a not so excited voice.

Neal watched the two of them, feeling pleased. He never thought he would have that – both his families, now one family. The only thing missing was Belle. Some of the newfound happiness vanished as he remembered his step-mom and how he was already missing her.

They sat down to eat breakfast and Gold mentioned he was going to the library that day. Neal decided to finish working in the baby's room. He had bought a dresser, the last thing needed for the room, and wanted to organize the clothes Emma got from her coworkers and the ones he bought. By doing that he could also be close to Henry's room if the boy needed him.

Before they stood up to start their day, Emma said "Thank you for helping with Henry. I don't know what I would have done if it was just the two of us." she remembered how she was thinking about that some months ago. It looked like a long time passed since she found about the pregnancy and wondered how she was going to balance a baby and a teenager all by herself.

The truth was, she didn't need to think about that anymore.

**~X~**

It was mid-afternoon. Henry was feeling better already, he ate some chicken noodle soap for lunch and managed not to throw it up. He was taking another nap, something that Neal was planning to do as soon as he finished organizing the baby clothes.

"I found another bag." Emma said, entering the room. "My coworkers organized a kind of baby shower before I got my leave. I had forgotten about these things they got me."

Neal opened a new drawer to fill, taking a little dress out of the bag Emma just brought.

"This is cute." he said, holding it up.

She smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. When he was thinking about asking her if she was ok, she blurted out.

"What happened on the night of the watches?"

He sighed. Sooner or later she would bring that up.

"Why don't you sit?" he asked, eyeing the rocking chair Henry had chose and arrived that day with the dresser.

She did so, and he sat on the stool they were using the other day to put the shelves up. _Here we go again_, he thought.

"When I went sell the watches I found one of your old friends... you are probably not going to remember him, but he did remember you."

"Who?"

"Emma... do you remember a newspaper article about a boy finding a newborn baby by the side of the road?"

She looked at him, puzzled. She never told anyone that. Not even him.

"The name of this little boy was August. He is the little boy of the article and also the one that met me that night. He was trying to protect you."

"Given the fact that I don't even know who this guy is, it's pretty hard to believe!" she said, stubborn.

Neal didn't want her to get nervous. If that happened, he would stop telling the story right then. He tried to keep going, saying, in a calm tone:

"He was trusted to take care of you because your parents couldn't... but he was around seven at the time, too young for such a huge burden. You guys were sent to a home together, but eventually your paths got separated."

"He grew up, and he was worried about you. He started to look for you around the time you left the system. And that's when you met me. August had a plan for you, Emma, and I was intruding. He wanted to reunite you with your parents."

"So you're telling me you left me because of this guy that I am not even sure exists?" she said, making it clear she was not buying it.

"He asked me to leave you, I said I wouldn't. He said that if I didn't do so, you would never find your family. Now, that was what I wanted the most for you and I knew you wanted it too. If there was a chance that guy was telling me the truth and your family wanted you back, I would do everything in my power for you to have it."

"So you just left?"

"It was not like that. I planed on going back to you and giving you the money of the watches before leaving. I planned on making up a story, but seeing you at least one last time. But selling the watches took me longer than I thought it would, and when I was finally done with it, I saw your missing call... I went to our meeting point, but you were not there anymore."

"I don't understand." she said, for once sounding only confuse.

"Look, I met August again many years later. He confessed me he called the cops that night."

"Why would he do that?"

"To prevent you from seeing me. To convince me I was a bad influence on you. It worked."

"You were not the one that called the cops?"

"Of course not. Those were my watches, if I ever called the cops about it would be to tell them I was the one that stole them."

"Did you know I went to jail?"

"Not until some months later... August told me that was a good chance to get away from you. He had advised me to go on with my plan, to go to Canada."

"And you listened to him?"

"I was brokenhearted. Just after I left the country he told me you went to jail. I punched him." Neal said, for the first time smiling. "I sent you the money of the watches and the car, so you could start a new life after you left. I promised August I would keep my distance and he promised he would take you back to your family in exchange."

The tears that had been pooling in Emma's eyes finally started to roll down her checks, but Neal held himself in place, afraid she would deny his comfort if he tried doing so.

"If that is true... he never executed his part of the agreement." she said, her voice cracking "I never even met anyone called August."

"Something must have happened." Neal said, tearing up also. "I don't think we can reach him anymore, he is as good as dead." he said, thinking about the little boy that used to play with Henry, oblivious to anything involving his and Emma's life.

"So how can I believe in you? You could've just made up this whole story so I could forgive you."

Neal shrugged.

"You're a police officer, aren't you? Call the Portland Police Department. Talk to someone that worked there back then. I bet they still have the recording of the person that called them, telling the place where you were."

"Dad?" they both startled, looking at the door. Henry was standing there, rubbing his eyes as the light was too bright. "I am thirsty."

Neal cleared his throat, recomposing himself the best he could and going to his son.

"Let's get some water then, you do need to drink lots of liquids."

Emma was so caught up in the moment that she didn't notice that, for the first time in her life, Henry didn't call her first when he needed something. She stayed seated, thinking about the conversation they just had, imagining if it would be worth checking that story up – and take the risk of opening herself up to hope and to the chance of being hurt again.

**~X~**

After the nap, Henry's fever didn't come back and he was feeling way better. When Emma passed by his room, she saw the boy lying down in his bed reading a book – and Neal passed out in his mattress at one corner.

"Dad is really tired." Henry whispered, seeing his mom by the door.

She nodded, going to the living room where her laptop was. Ten minutes later she was dialing the number she had found in a quick search on the internet.

"Hi, I am Emma Swan, with the New York Police Department... maybe you could help me..."

**~X~**

Gold was thinking that Google thing something really amazing. He had found a lot of useful information there. That is, after he entered a dozen websites of people who didn't really know what they were talking about, and clicked in advertisements that just led him to embarrassing webpages. That was also when he learned how to mute the volume of the computer.

The important things was that he discovered that, even tough the magic in that world was weak, it existed. And there were special spots where you could find a greater amount of concentrated magic. He had a little list of these places and had researched which one was closer and more practicable.

"You need what?"

"A flight ticket to Wyoming." Gold repeated, thinking his son was going deaf.

"Do you even know where that is?"

"In the mountain region of western United States. I did study it, son."

"Are you sure there is something to be found there, Papa? Do you know the exact place where you need to go?"

"Yes, I know where to go. It may take me some days to reach the place, but it seems worthy. From everything I heard, I strongly believe it is a place with high concentration of magic."

Neal sighed.

"Don't you believe in me, Bae?"

"It's not that..." he didn't want to tell him that it was his father by himself in the modern world what he feared. "Well, if there is a chance..."

"I may find the ingredients for a potion, son. We may be able to restore Emma's and Henry's memories. And with their help we can find a way to go back home."

"You know I can't go with you in this trip, right?" Neal asked softly. "I can't leave Emma right now."

"I wouldn't ask you to do that. It is going to be a lonely trip."

"Ok, I will look up the price of tickets. But you are taking a cell phone with you so you can call me every day and tell me how things are going."

"Will I need to pass through the airport security system again?" Gold asked, and his miserable voice made Neal laugh.

"Sorry about that, but... yeah."

**~X~**

On the next day Neal went out to buy his father the tickets for Wyoming. Emma had invited them for dinner and Gold accepted, but Neal took a little longer to show up. He wanted to see Henry, but he didn't know where he stood with Emma. For his luck, Henry was great at breaking the ice between his parents.

"Can you..." Henry looked embarrassed, peeked at his grandpa and mom that were cleaning up the dishes, then at his dad. "Maybe you could play some video games before leaving? Then you could put me in bed." the boy said quickly. He wanted to be tucked in but he didn't want to look like a baby.

"You know the rules..." Neal said.

Henry turned around.

"Mom, is it ok if Dad and I play some video game until my bedtime?"

Emma didn't turn around, and Neal couldn't sense anything in her voice as she said "Sure."

"Bae, I will leave." Gold said, taking the books he got from the library and Neal's laptop. "Thank you for buying the tickets."

"No problem. Try to rest." he said, knowing his father was not doing enough of that since he was so focused on finding a way to go back to Belle. "I will be home soon."

He sat in the couch as Henry turned on the Playstation, thinking about his old apartment that didn't feel like home anymore. Not without Emma and Henry.

**~X~**

Henry had just fallen to what would hopefully be a deep sleep and Neal decided to quietly leave. But Emma was in the living room lying in the couch, the TV turned on to some old movie that she wasn't watching.

"Did you really sent me the money of the watches?"

He startled, and she turned her face to look at him. Her expression was curious – and that was all.

"I did. I am sorry you never got it."

"It probably ended up in August's pockets." she said, not happy. Miraculously the police officer to whom she talked to had access to the old files and found the recording of the call someone made to the police station that night, informing where Emma was standing with a stolen watch. They had sent her the file of audio through email and she listened to it. Relieve washed through her when she heard a difference voice than Neal's – he wasn't lying to her.

She sat on the couch, not without struggle.

"Why didn't you come back? Did you know I waited for you in Tallahassee for two years?"

"I didn't know that. I am so sorry, Emma. I wanted to keep my part of the deal, I thought you were happy with your family... You... you went to Tallahassee!"

She lightly smiled.

"Yeah. Henry was two. He loved the beach."

Neal sat on the other couch.

"I wish I was there... Man, we could've been happy!" he said, thinking about him and Emma raising Henry in Tallahassee, not even remembering that the memories Emma thought she had were fake.

"I don't know if that comforts you, but we _were _happy, Henry and I. We still are."

Neal smiled.

"Of course it does. It's everything I ever wanted."

They were quiet for some seconds, Neal thinking about the two times he made deals and played his part, but not the other end – his father and August; Emma thinking about everything that could have happened if things were done different.

"It's still not fair, Neal." she whispered after some seconds. "I didn't have you. And I didn't have my family, like this guy promised you. All I ever got was Henry."

"At least you got Henry. I didn't get to have my family when I was a kid, or you, or Henry. I got nothing."

"Until now." she added. "You have him now, you have your father back... you have your daughter."

He nodded, but Emma had started to cry as she talked and kept crying as she finished. Neal didn't understand where that was coming from, it was the second time that she ended up in tears that week. He sat by her side on the couch, wanting to comfort her, but still careful. For his relief she instantly looked for his arms. She was finally opening herself up to him.

"I thought these kids would have just me." she confessed. "It always worried me sick to think about who would take care of Henry if something happened to me. Now he has you, and when I see you two together..." she stopped, taking a deep breath. "You are an amazing father, Neal."

"And you are an amazing mother, Em." He said, making small circles on her back.

She hugged him closer when she heard the old nickname, a wave of nostalgia washing over her and making her want to cry even more.

"You need to calm down." Neal whispered, such a light kiss on her head that she thought she had imagined it. "You don't need to scare us again."

She nodded, drying her tears. He made her take deep breaths, and said she should go to bed and rest.

"I'll go. Soon." she whispered, not ready to let him go yet.

And he let her hug him.


	19. A long day

_I am updating this chapter again because it looks like it was missed somehow. Sorry about that!_

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><p><em><strong>19 – A long day<strong>_

Henry was having a long day. He had just returned to school after being at home sick, and the amount of homework he need to do to catch up with the class was scaring.

Gold was having a long day. He hated flying and, even more, he hated airports. As he took his shoes off to pass trough the X-ray, he swore as loud as possible – in his mind. His son had been clear enough that, if he didn't want to be arrested, he shouldn't try anything at the airport.

Belle was having a long day. Little Annabelle was struck with colic and in the long hours where she tried to calm a fussy baby, Belle thought about other times, about a sorcerer with a still kind soul and the happiness they once found.

Neal was having a long day. What started as a friendly discussion ended in a fight. He thought they were doing well, then came the argument, then Emma kicked him out of the apartment.

Emma was having a long day. She had opened herself up to someone for the first time in over a decade – and was turned down. She couldn't understand why. But, most important, she didn't think she could ever trust a man again.

**~X~**

"Henry! It's good to have you back!" a smiling Andrea said when she met him at recess.

"I guess. But all this homework is not good at all." the boy complained.

"I can help you out with that, if you want. So, did you spend the last two days at home, throwing your guts up?"

"Yeah. Not fun at all."

"Did your mother have the baby yet?"

"No. I hope that happens soon, or she is going to explode."

"But then you'll have to fight for attention. Really, you should enjoy your last days as an only child."

"I don't mind sharing my mom. Besides, now I have my dad and my grandpa also."

"Everybody will be focused on the baby, you'll see."

Henry shrugged.

"That is good. My little sister will have a great family to take care of her. She'll not even know what it is like to only have your mom in the whole world."

The boy was playing with the little keychain he had in his backpack while he said that and Andrea thought he looked really sad.

"I guess. Do you want me to help you with the homework now?" she asked softly.

He smiled, a smile that soon faded when she took many books out of her own backpack.

"The teacher asked me to also give you these to study. The classes you missed."

"Oh, great." the boy mumbled, foreseeing it was going to be a long and boring afternoon.

**~X~**

"Everything goes in the bin, Sir."

Gold looked at the officer with the colder stare he could summon and put all his stuff in the plastic bin.

"Stop in the middle. Hands over your head, stare ahead."

When it was finally over and he could grab his stuff, he wished he could turn all of them in slugs. Like all of that stuff served to anything at all.

He took his flight ticket, taking a look at the number of the gate. What was coming next wasn't easy. He was not a fan of flying at all, at least not in that crazy machine those people used. But if it was his only way of reaching his final destiny, then he would do it.

**~X~**

"Sweetie, stop crying." Belle whispered, hating to hear the high pitch sound coming from her daughter's little mouth.

After two days almost going crazy with the little girl's cries and trying everything – feeding, singing, taking a look in the diaper – Granny had helped Belle figure out what the problem was. Colic.

She turned the little girl in her arms with the practice she thought she would never have the fist time she picked the baby up. With her hand resting on Annabelle's tummy, she started to hum a song. She kissed the baby's light hair, smelling the sweet fragrance that only babies have.

Some time later the baby's cries lowered and Belle hoped the warmth of her hand was helping with her colic.

"You know, the first time I saw your father I was scared." she started to say, aware that the girl usually calmed down when she talked or sang. "Not because of his appearance... because of his eyes. He looked like a haunted man. And even if I was afraid to leave my house and everything I had known for my whole life, I was also excited. I was curious about the haunted man, curious to know what demons he held inside him. If he was capable of feeling so much pain he was also capable of feeling a lot of love."

"And he was, Anna. Your father was fierce in everything, but mostly in protecting and caring for his family. He would move mountains to get to a loved one. And that's why I think he would've love to know you."

Belle sighed. The baby was quiet now, but she kept rocking her, her mind so far... she had this feeling on the pitch of her stomach, this funny feeling that told her that things weren't over. Like she could possibly see Rumple again.

_Stop thinking nonsense, Belle. _She told herself, deciding that making Anna sleep was a more useful thing to do.

**~X~**

"This sucks. I hate being at bed rest."

"It is going to end soon, Em." Neal said, distracted. "Do you still want to eat that or I can take it?" He pointed to the bowl of fruit salad he had prepared for her breakfast.

She didn't answer him at first, her nickname still ringing in her ears. It felt weird to be called that again after so long, but it was a good kind of weird.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. I am alright. I don't think I can eat anymore."

"Ok." He took the bowl, unceremoniously eating what she left behind.

They were both silent for some minutes and she tried to find a better position in the couch. Now that Gold was traveling, Neal would go to Emma's apartment early in the morning so he could wake Henry up, prepare him breakfast and walk him to school. Emma would sleep in and when he returned, he would prepare her breakfast. He always ended up lingering around until it was time to pick Henry up again, and Emma seemed pleased with that.

"I am curious about something." Neal said after some time. He had finished eating the fruits, leaving the bowl on the coffee table. The TV was turned on and Emma had been distractedly watching it. She looked at him. "Why did you come to New York? I mean, there were so many cities you could've picked, and you came here."

"To be honest with you, I don't know. Henry asked the same question and I didn't have an answer for him either. I remember driving from Boston without a destiny in mind, and some hours later I was entering the tunnel to Manhattan."

Neal watched her, a stubborn hope in his chest growing, telling him she came here because somehow, even if it was just unconsciously, she remembered a little piece of her life, a little connection of the past.

"Why did _you_ come to New York?" she asked him back.

He shrugged.

"I wanted to get lost. What better place than New York to do that?"

"Did it work?" she asked softly. She was lying on her side, a hand pillowing her head, and he thought she looked adorable.

"For some time, yeah. But we can't really run from our past forever."

"You said you had a fiancee." she mentioned, trying to hide her curiosity.

"Yeah, I did. But I didn't see her for what she really was. At least someone opened my eyes before it was too late."

"That is good." Emma said, what Neal thought as sad. She had been the one to do that and still, she couldn't remember. "Were you still with her when we met?"

"Yeah." he said, not proud of that.

They were quiet for long seconds before Emma half whispered, eyes on the TV.

"Did you love her?"

His voice came just as low as hers.

"I think so."

"If you need to think about it, then it is not love."

He looked surprised at her, but she was still lying on her side, eyes on the TV.

"Maybe you are right." he finally said, remembering the quick and imperceptible way they had fallen in love when they were young.

Neal could tell she was uncomfortable now because her fingers were tapping the couch's cushion. She thought she had asked too much, he was sure of that. He got his confirmation when she tried to sit down, her ears red.

"I gotta pee." she said after a failed try to stand.

He helped her out, smiling as he saw her going to the bathroom. They had crossed the line of physic distance already, now he didn't think twice before helping her out by holding her hand or touching the belly so he could feel the baby kick. And he still felt the electricity every time they touched.

He sat on the couch she had been occupying, thinking about the times in the past that their touch had been their salvation – at a cold night in the bug, a boost to jump a wall while they ran from someone.

He waited for her to come out of the bathroom, watching her funny walking when she did so.

"What are you smiling about?"

He smirked.

"You don't wanna know."

"Oh, come on! Tell me now!"

"Let's just say I have a pretty good view from here." He said, looking at her body.

He didn't see the pillow coming until it made contact with his head.

"What was that for?"

She was smiling when she said. "Pig!"

But he was paying attention to another thing.

"That is kind of weird." he said, noticing the abnormal way her belly looked.

She smiled.

"It's normal. It usually happens in the morning, since I sleep in my side." She said smiling, pleased with the way Neal's eyes twinkled when he was marveled at something. It was the exact same expression Henry would have. "Besides, she seems to like the right side better."

He came closer, observing how big the bump was to the right, leaving the left side almost flat.

"This is probably a foot." Emma said, outlining a smaller lump.

"It is kind of awesome. But still a little weird." he said, touching his daughter's little foot trough Emma's belly.

"You just described a pregnancy." she said, rolling her eyes.

"You're almost there, Em, you are due in one week."

"If this kid is as lazy as Henry, I will have a one-year-long pregnancy." she said, what made both of them smile.

"Have you thought about names yet?" he asked. He had been curious, but not sure if she would let him in that much yet. Now he was sure she would.

"Yeah, I've been thinking a lot about it but no name seems right."

"What did you think about?"

"For some reason, I really like Eva. And Ruth. They are old fashioned, but they just popped in my mind."

"Ok." Neal said with a smile, vaguely remembering reading Henry's book. Those were family related for sure. "Did Henry suggest anything?"

"Kenzie. It seems like he read it in a book and really liked it. Even your father gave some ideas."

"Really? What does he suggest?"

"Aidan. He said, and I quote, 'It means little fire, so it would be a meaningful name for Bae's daughter'."

"I see." Neal said, remembering how names were important to his father. "You know, when we were together I used to think... we never discussed about the subject but I kind of wanted kids, you know?"

"You did?" that surprised her.

"I did not like seriously thought about that... I just used to imagine that once we made it to Tallahassee... after a couple of years, after we had jobs and a house and didn't need to live in the run... it would be nice to have a little one, you know?"

He was looking down, his hand still touching the right side of her belly. They were so close his stomach was touching her stomach.

"Did you have a name picked back then?" she asked softly.

"Kind of. I used to think about this name that was meaningful for us, and would serve for both a boy and a girl."

"What name is that?" Emma asked, curious.

"Charlie." He said, shrugging.


	20. The final line

_Ok, dearies. Here we go again!  
>I loved writing this one, sorry that it took long (once again). <em>

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><p><em><strong>Chapter <strong>**20 - The final line**_

Charlie. As soon as he said the name Emma was filled with the memory of sunny afternoons, chocolate bars and happy, catchy songs. The two of them in the bug, their only worry being where they would find food.

"You remember. " Neal said, watching her smile broaden.

"Of course I remember. That Lou Reed tape was the only thing we had for months."

The tape was already in the glove compartment when they stole the car. Since the radio didn't work very well, when they were driving from a place to the other, they would listen to the tape again and again. _Charley's girl_ had always been a favorite.

"Do you remember that time we were trying to stay low key and drove like, for seven hours?" She asked, her eyes shining.

"Yeah. Your snores kept me from sleeping in the wheel."

"I don't snore!"

"You did that night. It's fine, it probably saved our asses."

They both laughed. Their faces were so close that they could see clearly each other's bright eyes.

"So Charley, huh? I like the sound of it. Would the spelling be like in the song?"

"I like it better with I-E. What do you think?"

"Let's check it."

Emma went to the fridge, where she had colorful papers to make notes. She took one and sat by the kitchen table. Neal came closer to watch it.

_Charley_

She stopped, then restarted writing.

_Charlie_

Neal saw her smiling for an instant before going back to the task, adding another name.

_Charlie Swan_

"It looks good." he said, but she kept writing.

_Charlie Swan Cassidy_

"What if we use Swan as a middle name?"

She wasn't looking at him, and Neal could hear the insecurity in her voice. He was happy about her idea, more than that, about what that meant. But he didn't want to agree on that unless she was a hundred percent certain.

"Are you sure about that? You can pick another of the choices you have for her middle name, and Swan as her last."

"If you don't want the baby to have your last name..."

"No, I didn't say that! I would love that! I just want to know if you are a hundred percent in on this."

She raised her eyes.

"I am. I mean, as long as _you _are in for the long run."

"I am, Emma" he said, seriously.

"Then it is set." She said with a smile, looking at the paper, as if getting used to the name. "I really like it."

"I love it." Neal said, sitting at a chair by her side and bending over to her belly. "Did you hear that, little girl? Your dumb parents finally picked a name for you. What do you think?"

Emma could feel the baby move as a reaction to her father's voice. It wasn't long before she felt a kick.

"I think she likes it too."

"Or she wants to kick me." Neal said, smiling. He lightly touched her belly. "We love you, Charlie."

Emma looked at that man in front of her, already being a great father. Back when they were young she would never imagine any of them as being parent material, not with their pasts. But there they were. She realized with a start that the fear she had felt some months ago, the fear of raising another baby had vanished. She wasn't afraid anymore. She was hopeful... and excited. She wanted to met her daughter, the daughter that she already loved so much.

Neal was surprised when he felt the touch in his face. Emma raised his chin, so he would stare at her eyes. They were shining from happiness but also from unshed tears. She smiled, that bright smile that had made him fall for her. And slowly, inch by inch, she got closer.

Neal saw what was coming next, he could almost feel the light touch of her lips in his. But in a moment of lucidity he remembered his father's words. _Who knows what will happen with her blood pressure if it does work and she remembers everything._ She was so close to her due date. If she had a problem with her blood pressure while in labor, the consequences could be so bad.

Her lips were almost touching his, and Neal made a decision. He couldn't risk hers or their daughter's life.

He turned his face, so her lips brushed his cheeck. She sighed, surprised, and he closed his eyes.

"Emma..." he started. He heard movement, and opened his eyes. With some struggle, Emma was standing up. She looked about to cry.

Oh, crap.

"I shouldn't... I thought that you were... I am really dumb."

"It's not like that, Emma. I am just worried with your health."

She looked about to panic, but out of a sudden her expression changed, her face clean of emotions. She looked him in the eyes.

"Leave, Neal."

"But..."

"Leave now."

She wanted to be alone, but he was resistant to leave.

"I swear, if you don't leave I'll make you."

He stood up, not wanting to upset her.

"Ok, I am leaving."

**~X~**

It was almost the time to pick Henry up at school so Neal decided to slowly walk there. He knew he would need to talk to the boy. The good thing was, he could use the help of his son.

"Your Mom and I had a little disagreement, Henry." he told him when they were coming back together.

"Did you guys fight? Why?"

"It was something silly, so don't worry. What I want to ask for is your help."

"Sure, Dad."

"I will come back tomorrow morning to take you to school, but until there I don't think I'll be able to be around. So my mission to you is to take care of your mom. Be around her and watch her, Henry. If she doesn't look ok for some reason, I want you to call me right away."

"Ok."

"Here" He took a well-worn cell phone out of his pocket, giving it to the boy.

"This is one of my old cell phones, I saved my number in speed dial. So, if you need to talk to me, just dial 1, ok?"

"Ok."

Henry put the cell phone in his pocket, and they walked in silence for some minutes.

"Are you and mom splitting up?"

"Henry..." Neal started, worried. They haven't been together at all to be splitting up. But he thought that saying that to the boy wouldn't sound good. "I am not going to disappear, if that's what you are asking. You can always count on me, and your sister too. What happens between your mother and I has nothing to do with my relationship with you."

"Ok." the boy said, sounding a little more reassured. "But I hope you guys can solve whatever the problem is. Mom always smiles more when you are around."

With that last sentence ringing in his ears, Neal dropped Henry of at the building complex, not even going upstairs. He shouldn't make things worse by imposing his presence on her.

He thought about going back and explaining to her his reasons, but he knew stubborn Emma, and thought better not to risk. They were so close to the final line anyway. He could think about his relationship with Emma and recovering her memories after both her and Charlie were safe and sound.

He went home, feeling miserable. The apartment where he lived for so many years looked cold, empty and without life. He wondered how he would spend his hours until it was time to go to bed and also if it wasn't the time to call his old job and see if they would accept him back. He still had his savings, and that money would last for some months more, but he wasn't sure how long it would take for them to go back to the Enchanted Forest. It could take years. He should think about the future.

He had been distractedly skipping songs in his cell phone, not really listening to any of them, when his father called.

"Bae, I have good news. And also some bad news."

"Let's go with good first, I need something to cheer me up." Neal said.

"I found almost all the ingredients for a memory potion. There is only one herb missing, but this one is harder to get, since it is only found in the top of mountains."

"That is great, Papa! So we are going to be able to make Henry and Emma remember."

"But now comes the bad part, son. It was really hard to find the ingredients, and when I did find it, it was in small quantities. I don't know yet, but I may just have enough for one potion."

"I see."

"If that does happen we may need to hold the act for Henry for a little longer. But at least Emma will remember."

Neal sighed. That was exactly what he needed at the moment, for her to remember.

The next day, Neal called Henry in his cell phone on the time he was supposed to wake up.

"Good morning, sleepy head." he said in a sing-song voice.

"Dad! You woke me up.!"

"That was my intention. Come on, wake up, change your clothes, grab some cereal, brush your teeth! Chop chop!"

"Are you taking me to school?" Henry asked, sounding more alert.

"Yes, I am almost there. How is your mom?"

"She was really quiet yesterday, but besides that she seemed fine. Oh, and she told me about the baby's name!"

"Did you like it?"

"Yes, I really did. But she didn't tell me how it was chosen."

"I see. I tell you the story later. Are you up yet?"

"Not really wanting to."

"You better. If I get there and I need to take your sorry ass out of bed, you will be in trouble."

"Fine. I am standing up."

Emma almost didn't sleep. She heard when Henry talked to Neal through the phone. The boy had been watching her closely the whole night on the day before. When she asked about the cell phone he had, he said his dad had gave him.

She didn't understand what Neal was doing. He showed all the signs of being interested on her, and suddenly walked backwards, and now didn't even show up. Maybe he was there just for the kids, not her. Maybe it was his way to pass her the message, not interested.

After Henry left, the apartment was silent. She needed to pee, but was too lazy to do so. During the whole night she had been feeling little flusters in her stomach, and imagined if Charlie was restless or it was just last night's dinner. She ended up eating ramen noddles.

She sat down in bed, feeling the same sensation again, this time a little stronger.

"Whoa! What's the matter there, kid?"

She went to the bathroom, deciding that maybe she should taker a shower. As she took her shirt off, she felt a really strong fluster and wondered if she wasn't having Braxton Hicks. But, as she finished undressing, she felt a funny sensation and, when looked down, the floor was wet.

"Oh, great."

It was a matter of a few minutes, but the next time she had it, she knew they were contractions. That baby wanted to get out. Trying to keep calm and failing miserably, she restarted to dress. What should she do next?

She left the bathroom, but needed to stop at the threshold with the sudden wave of pain. She knew she needed to keep calm for the sake of that baby, but that was really hard at the moment.

As the contraction passed, she walked to her cell phone by the nightstand. She should call her doctor. But when she reached it and tried to turn it on, it didn't. It was uncharged, she forgot to charge it the day before.

She looked around the room, trying to find the house phone. Henry was the only one using it lately, mostly to talk to Andrea. And, as with all his other things, he would leave it at the most unpredictable places.

She checked in her room, in the boy's room and the kitchen. When she got to the living room another contraction came, so much stronger than the last one. That couldn't be good, it was going too fast! She gritted her teeth, trying not to scream in pain.


	21. First day of my life

_Sorry for the little cliffhanger, sometimes it can't be avoided.  
>But now we'll see what happens and everything will be beautiful and nice. Or not?<br>As I was thinking about the title of the chapter, I remembered a song by Bright Eyes, and decided to use the name of it. It's a cute song, and it fits this chapter.  
>Enjoy! ;)<em>

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 21 - First day of my life<strong>_

Neal had dropped Henry off at school and quickly passed by the grocery store. Now that he was actually having meals in his apartment he needed something edible around. He was thinking about going home and organizing some of his old stuff, but that didn't sound exciting so he walked really slowly postponing it as much as he could.

For the whole morning he had felt a weird sensation in the pit of his stomach – like things were going to turn bad.

He had talked to his father that morning. Rumpelstiltskin would return, if things turned as he expected, in two days. His father was ok, just as Henry, whom he just saw. The only other person that he actually cared about, at least in that world, was Emma. Maybe he could pass by the apartment and check on her?

He played with the idea in his head. It was not too late to do that, he just needed to turn left in the next street instead of going straight. She probably was calmer than the day before, maybe they could have a conversation.

The biggest problem was that he couldn't explain to her _exactly _why he drew away on the day before. He could say it was because of her health, but the truth was, he was afraid true love's kiss might work, she might remember. He couldn't tell her that, and if he didn't, she would know he was lying.

He turned the idea around and around, imagining how the conversation could go. He passed the street he was supposed to turn in order to get to her apartment. It was probably better if he waited until it was time to pick Henry up... she would be more reasonable with the boy around.

He had just made that decision, but there was still something... something telling him to go back. He stopped, looking at his shoes. Back when they were young, it always amazed Neal the great mental connection they had. If one of them was in trouble the other would know, and that was just one of the things that made them such a good team.

He turned on his heels and went back, turning left in the street he was supposed, almost running. He suddenly wanted to get to Emma's apartment as soon as possible.

Emma promised herself that, as soon as that contraction stopped, she would drag herself out of the apartment and bang on her neighbor's door.

The problem was not just the contractions, it was her panic. She was so scared of not being able to get to the hospital, of complications in labor. Her doctor had recommend her to get to the hospital as soon as possible when that happened. He also had recommended for her never to be alone.

"Please, sweetie. Help mommy." she whispered, tears strolling down her face.

As if her daughter actually heard her, the pain subdued. She took a deep breath, realizing the battle to stand up from a sitting position was about to start.

Neal went upstairs, three steps at a time. Now he was _sure _there was something wrong, he could feel it. One bottle of water that was on top of the grocery bag he still carried fell down but he didn't stop to grab it, having almost arrived on Emma's floor.

Emma was in a terrible position – she had sat on the couch thinking that would be more comfortable and now could barely stand. She growled.

Neal fussed with the keys that used to be Henry's and now he carried around. He could hear Emma's voice inside the apartment, and that made him calmer.

Emma looked up surprised. Neal entered the apartment as fast as lightning, dropping the bag of groceries in his way. Emma stared at him with big eyes, one hand holding her belly.

"Neal, thanks God." she said in a whisper.

"Are you ok? I had this feeling..." he said, sounding a little unsure.

But she smiled.

"Like the old days. I've been in labor for some minutes now." she said, and even if her voice sounded calm, he could see just how much scared she actually was.

"Oh, gods!" he said, approaching her. "Ok, we need to go to the hospital" He walked to the other side. "Where is your bag? You prepared it, right?" he came back "Shouldn't we call the hospital or something? And are we going by cab? I don't think I can drive and focus on you at the same time."

His babbling was interrupted by her muffled scream. His hand, the closest thing to hers, was grabbed in a really tight grip.

He saw her fighting the contraction, her knuckles turning white. It was scaring to see, and if he was nervous, he couldn't imagine the state she was in. It was that thought that made him realize he needed to be calm and reassuring. In their relationship, Emma had always been the adult. It was his turn to take the wheel.

"Emma, look at me." he said, grabbing her other hand. "Take deep breaths and try not to panic. All of this is natural, and everything will be fine."

She was looking at him, but her expression was still pained. He softened his voice.

"Do you trust me, dearie?" he said, so focused on the moment that the way the people spoke in the village where he grow up showed in his speech. He saw her nodding her head once, and, giving the way she asked him to leave on the day before, that was more than he could ask for.

The truth was, she felt betrayed on the day before. She thought Neal didn't want her and that hurt her feelings. But nothing of that erased the fact that he was the only man she ever trusted. And, if she was doing that, if she was having that kid, he was the one she would choose to be by her side. Again and again.

"That's good, so do as I say. First, breath." she did as he asked and he could see the contraction passing as her grip in his hand started to loose strength. "Good, Em. That is really good."

"It passed." she said, out of breath.

"Ok. Where is your bag? I am going to get it for you, and we are going straight to the hospital, ok?"

"It's in Charlie's room, by the dresser."

He smiled, hearing for the first time her referring to the baby by the name they had chosen. The baby that was almost there.

"Be back soon."

He went to the nursery, fishing his phone out of his pocket on the way. He came back with the bag in one shoulder, talking to Emma's doctor.

"They are waiting for us, the doctor asked us to time the contractions." he said, helping her stand.

She took his hand, feeling safe for the first time since the contractions started. The total panic had given place to a light apprehension.

Neal called the elevator, than came back to help Emma. They left the building and as soon as Emma stepped on the street, Neal waving frantically to the cars passing by, a taxi stopped.

"We are going to the hospital, buddy." Neal told the taxi driver, that nodded his head as if a soldier receiving the orders for a mission.

Emma sat on the back seat, instantly growling.

"Are you ok?" Neal asked, going around the taxi to sit by her side.

"Sitting hurts." she said, massaging her back. "Oh, here we go again!"

He offered his hand to be crushed again as she gritted her teeth and the driver did some crazy tricks to get to their destiny as soon as possible. Neal tried to push her to a more lying position, and she complied.

"Do the stupid dog thing." he said, looking in her eyes as she lay in his legs. "Come on, I'll do it with you."

He breathed in and out and she did the same, knowing that if she wasn't in so much pain, she would be laughing.

"How long until we get there?" Neal asked the driver.

"Around fifteen minutes if traffic is good, Sir."

Neal turned his attention back to Emma as she started to relax again. He took a look at his watch.

"That was longer than before. Are you ok?"

"A baby is almost breaking my cervix open, but yeah, I am fine. Thanks for asking."

Despite everything he laughed, and she would do that too if she wasn't so out of breathe.

He knew it wasn't time for that, but he really wanted to settle the things between them before their daughter was born.

"Emma, I am so sorry about yesterday. I wanted so much to kiss you, but I was so worried about this pregnancy. I don't want you to think I turned you down."

Her eyes were closed as she tried to take deep breaths.

"I overreacted. When I was having the first contractions today I was so scared... Then I understand your care. I was so afraid to be turned down, that I believed... but I should've never..."

"It's ok now." he said, smoothing her hair. "Let's worry about getting this baby out."

She opened her eyes.

"Are you going to stay with me all the way?"

He looked at her seriously. There was more to that question than just the hours of labor, he knew that.

"Of course I am. We are doing this together."

She was going to answer, but never got the chance as another contraction came. He took a look in his watch. Five minutes apart. Thankfully, it was not long before the driver stopped.

"We are here, Sir."

What came next was like a movie for Neal – he could hear the emotional soundtrack and see the scenes in slow motion. The doctors got to Emma immediately and before they could think about it, they were being prepared for the deliver. Neal got scrubs, and told the doctor all the information requested. When he was able to go to Emma's bedside, she was in a break between contractions.

"Ready to have a baby?" he asked, trying to lighten her mood. She looked so scared.

"I know what comes next, I've passed through it. I am not excited about it."

"I wasn't there last time, baby." Neal said, holding her hand. "I am sorry I can't do anything about the pain, but I can do my best to give you strength."

One hour passed between contractions and pauses that were getting smaller each time.

"You are doing great, Em." Neal said, as the doctor said she was almost full dilated. "Just a little more and our daughter will be here."

It was the last thing it was said before the doctor asked her to push.

The lights flicked, Emma screamed and Neal held her hand stronger than ever. There was a pause, and the doctor asked her to push again.

"Just one more big push, Em." Neal said, as she didn't obey it immediately. He kissed her hand. "I am giving you my strength, remember?"

That gave her the determination she needed for the last push. The lights flickered once more, and Neal could see a little head full of hair, then shoulders, then a small, perfect little body.

"She is here." he said, turning to Emma with tears in his eyes.


	22. Bumps in the road

_I am such a terrible writer! Sorry for letting you hanging there. Got a couple of crazy weeks, but I finally managed to write this one down. There are still some things ahead of us, we need to solve Rumple and Belle's situation, right? I hope you like this one, and thank you for the continued support._

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><p><em><strong>22 - Bumps in the road<strong>_

Hearing his daughter's first cry was one of the most amazing experiences Neal ever had. And that was saying something, since he had more than 300 years of experience.

"A perfect baby girl." the doctor declared, amid the baby's cries.

"I want to see her." Emma mumbled.

The doctor put the baby, still connect by the umbilical chord, in Emma's arms. He gave the scissors to Neal, that slowly cut the connection between mother and daughter. Emma was looking at the baby that still cried, mesmerized.

"She is perfect." Emma said, holding her little hand.

"Just like her mom." Neal whispered, also looking at the baby.

"We will just clean her up and do a quick check up and she will be ready to go back to your arms." the nurse told Emma.

As they did that, Emma turned to Neal. They were parents again, parents of a beautiful baby girl. Neal was so overwhelmed with happiness that he didn't even think about it, he did what he thought as the best way to show Emma how much he loved her at that moment, her strength and courage, her perfection. He kissed her.

She held his face and kissed him back, and it was like going back to the past, like so many of the passionate kisses they once shared.

As they parted, Emma still held his head in her hands, looking at him with amazement in her eyes.

"Mommy and daddy?" they heard the nurse's voice, sounding amused, and parted. "There is someone here that would like some love too."

The baby was dressed and wrapped in a pink blanket, and Emma received her light weight with happiness. Neal sat by her side, an they both stared at their child.

"Welcome, Charlie." Neal said in a hushed tone, stretching a finger that, sure enough, was caught right away by a tiny fit.

The baby opened her eyes, showing a light shade of blue, looking in the direction his voice came from.

"You are so beautiful, baby girl." Emma said, her voice cracked. Neal looked at her.

"Are you ok, Em?"

Her tears were streaking down her face as she looked at the little girl's face.

"I should've held Henry..." she murmured. "I should've, if I did I would never let go of him."

"Emma?"

"Why did I abandon our son?" she said, turning her face to Neal. "How am I ever going to be a good mother if my first decision was to abandon my firstborn?"

"Emma..." Neal started to say, but the rushed voice of a nurse caught his attention. "Call the doctor, she is still bleeding!"

"Her heart rate is too fast!"

Neal looked between the doctors and nurses and back to Emma in haze. Things were happening too fast for him to keep track of. Charlie was put in his arms, and the doctor came back to try to contain the bleeding. He was softly asked to leave by a nurse that told him she would show him where the nursery was.

He glanced back to the chaos the room had became.

What had he done?

**~X~**

After a nurse forced Neal to go to the nursery and Charlie was put in a bassinet, he did the only thing he could think of – he called his father.

"Bae, congratulations!" Rumpelstiltskin said as soon as he heard Charlie was born. "I wish I was there to see her."

"She is perfect, Papa." Neal said, smiling to the asleep newborn. "But Emma got some complications."

As Neal explained to his father what happened, he exposed all of his concerns openly.

"I shouldn't have kissed her, but I was so overwhelmed..."

"Maybe it was not related at all, Bae. Childbirth is a complicated matter, it has always been. It is a good thing you were in this world. She is being taken care of."

After hanging up, Neal decided he should call Henry's school. The boy's school day was almost finished but he had no one to pick his son up. There was no way Neal would leave the hospital, so he decided to talk to the school and figure out the situation. One of Henry's teacher was called to the phone and she had a soft spot for the boy. She promised Neal she would take Henry to the hospital.

Neal took a look at Charlie before coming back to the hallway, but it was no use. No one had news for him, good or bad, and his entrance in the room was forbidden. He stayed outside Emma's room for some more minutes, but the nurses and doctors coming and going made him nervous so he decided to go back to his daughter.

He picked her up from the bassinet, sitting in a chair used for breastfeeding.

"Mommy is gonna be fine." he whispered to his daughter. "She needs to be."

When Henry got to the hospital, accompanied by his teacher, he found his father staring at a little bundle with an expression that was happy, but tense.

"Dad?"

Neal looked up, and a little smile formed in his face.

"Look who is here, Charlie. Your big brother."

Henry ran to them, stopping by his side. The teacher smiled, and Neal thanked her for bringing his son.

"You are welcome, Sir. You do have an amazing son. Congratulations on your new daughter."

Neal smiled, and after she took a look at the baby and hugged Henry, she left.

"She is so small!" Henry stated, looking at his little sister. "Can I hold her?"

"Yeah, buddy." Neal said, happy to have Henry around. For the past twenty minutes he had been watching Charlie sleep as he worried about Emma, jumping every time someone passed by the hallway. "Here, sit first."

Neal stood up and Henry sat down on the chair his father had been occupying. With a lot of care, Neal put the baby in Henry's arms, giving the boy some instructions.

"Make sure to support her head, like this." he explained, just like the nurse had explained to him some minutes ago.

Henry opened a big smile as he looked down at his sister, that slept peacefully even with all the movement.

"Nice to meet you, Charlie!" he said in a whisper. "My name is Henry, I am your brother!"

Neal had gotten his phone to take a picture, reason why he was fast enough to capture the moment in a video. He smiled, thinking he could show that to Emma later.

"Where is Mom?" Henry asked suddenly.

"They are still taking care of her." Neal said, not looking at his son, looking at his cellphone instead.

"Oh. Is that normal?"

Neal swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Sometimes it happens."

"Is she going to be fine, Dad?" Henry asked, in a serious tone.

"Yes, son. She must."

The silence was broken by Charlie's sudden complaining.

"Did I do something wrong?" Henry asked, worried.

"No, she is just hungry." Neal said, taking the baby back from Henry's arms. He was thinking about looking for a nurse to see what they should do about that when one appeared by the door.

"Sir? We contained the bleeding, and your wife is out of risk. She is resting, but you may see her before she falls asleep if you want."

"Thank you." Neal said, so relieved that he didn't even pay attention to the fact she assumed they were married.

Well, they did have two children together.

"The bleeding?" Henry asked as they left the nursery area.

"It's ok pal, they contained it now."

When they entered the room, Emma was resting on the bed, watching the door with a sleepy expression. But, as soon as she saw her family, she became alert.

"Hey Mommy." Neal said with the biggest grin. "Good to see you awake."

The first one to receive a hug was Henry, that ran to his mom as soon as they entered the room.

"They said you were bleeding." the boy whined.

Emma held his face with her hands, as if looking at him for the first time.

"I am ok now. I love you so much, Henry. Do you know that?"

"Yeah. I love you too, Mom." Henry said naturally.

Emma raised her eyes then. Neal and Charlie.

She could remember now the night she spent with Neal. The long talk, the alcohol. By the time she thought it was a big mistake. But now, looking at him holding their newborn baby girl, she thought that maybe they did something right.

"Do you want to hold your daughter?" Neal asked, approaching the bed. "I think she misses you."

Charlie had stopped crying as they moved, but now her growling and complaining came back.

Emma extended her arms with a smile.

"Maybe she likes Mommy better than Daddy." she said, playful.

"Oh, right. Let her believe that." Neal said, blinking to the baby.

Emma once more held the baby and for the second time she thought her chest would not be able to hold any more emotion. It surprised her the amount of love she had for that little girl already.

Henry pulled a chair to observe as Charlie was fed, but Neal stayed by the bedside, mesmerized. It didn't take long before the instinct guided the baby and she was happily sucking her mother's milk.

Emma moved a little to the left, closer to Henry's side, and tapped the bed with her free hand. She wanted Neal by her side so he would take over in case she fell asleep.

"I am really tired." Emma mumbled, stroking Charlie's cheek slowly.

"You should sleep, Em. The boys can take care of her."

"I just want her to finish eating." she said with a smile. "She is so beautiful, Neal."

They were sitting side by side, as close as possible in the hospital bed. Henry observed his parents with a silly grin, thinking he was really, really lucky. Some months ago he had wished for a family. Now he had a father, a grandfather and even a little sister.

Charlie finished eating and almost as soon as that happened, Emma gave in to sleep. Neal kissed her cheek tenderly, watching her close her eyelids.

"You really love my mom." he heard Henry say in a whisper. He looked up.

"Of course I love her, Henry." Neal said, in the same tone. "I love the three of you."

"Promise to take care of her? There was no one to do that before." the boy said.

"I promise, son." Neal said, slowly taking Charlie from Emma's arms, and making her more comfortable to sleep. Once Emma was lying down and Charlie was on his arms, he turned his attention back to Henry.

"Henry, I want to teach you many things, but right now I want you to learn the first and more important one. Family is the base of everything. If you are lucky enough to have one, you should cherish it, value it and take care of it with all your might."

The boy nodded solemnly and Neal smiled. He knew that once Emma woke up, she would want answers, and they would have a lot to discuss. But right at that moment all he wanted was to enjoy that wonderful feeling of snuggling with his little family.


	23. A true love

_Hello darlings! Man, I've been gone for a while! I apologize for that. I would like to thank Meresger for her message, probably it was the push I needed to finish this chapter. We all need some Swanfire happiness right now so I am glad to share this with you. Hope you enjoy. :)_

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><p><em><strong>23 – A true love<strong>_

Rumpelstiltskin was distracted. He was sitting at this diner, half-eaten pancakes on his plate. On the booth right in front of him there was a guy with a really smiley little girl. It was just after some seconds of staring that he realized he was being impolite. He left the money by the table to pay the bill and stood.

But he couldn't stop himself of peeking when he heard the guy whispering: "Who is daddy's little girl?"

He remembered when Bae was that young and he would spend hours entertaining the boy. He wondered how it would be to do that again.

He thought about his daughter. What did she look like? What name did Belle pick? Was she a fussy baby or did she sleep throughout the night? When would he see her?

He held the little glass flask inside his pocket. He had everything he needed for a memory potion. But what would he do then? It was not like Emma knew anything more than him about that.

Well, at least his son would be happy.

**~X~**

Emma breathed in then out. That was such a weird dream she had. She wondered if Henry was already up. Did her parents make breakfast?

She opened her eyes and was surprised to see a different ceiling than the one she was expecting. The air passed trough her lips, making a weird, struggled sound as soon as she realized she was at a hospital.

Neal was sleeping in a chair by her side and he woke up as soon as he heard her noise. He moved his neck painfully, and Emma watched him, everything coming back to her memory.

"Morning, Em." he said, trying to brush the sleep off. Then he noticed her expression. "Hey, what's the problem?"

She breathed deeply, but the tears fell anyway. She dried her eyes, trying to smile.

"Probably the hormones."

Neal just looked at her, making it clear he didn't buy that. Those were not happy tears.

"Where are..." she started to say, to change the subject, then turned her face to the left for the first time. Henry was tucked in the couch by the window, sleeping soundly. Charlie was on her bassinet, in the same state.

Emma couldn't stop the smile.

"Did you have nightmares?" Neal asked, taking a look at his watch. It was 6 in the morning.

"No." she mumbled, finishing drying her face before turning to face him. "I just..."

He waited.

"I woke up, and I thought I was at my parents house back in Storybrooke, and when I opened my eyes, everything came back. I think it was too much."

"It _was _too much. If you consider what you passed through on the last 24 hours, plus all the stress you had during the pregnancy."

Emma nodded, not looking at him.

"So you do remember."

"Yes." she looked up. "Did you know... did you know that the kiss would work?"

"No, Emma, I was just so happy I didn't think. My father told me that true love's kiss works just under special circumstances for memory cases, and I didn't want to bring you more stress, so I contained myself in case it could work. But after Charlie was born I just couldn't."

"That's why you didn't want to kiss me that day." she whispered, the words _true love kiss _ringing in her ears. They were true love. It was weird to think about that. For her, true love was her mother and father, Prince Charming and Snow White, the perfect couple. Not her and Neal, the two thieves that would mess things up again and again.

"Yeah. Now, that you remember I can apologize properly."

"Apologize for what?"

"For leaving you when you were pregnant, again."

"You didn't know. Again."

"But I felt so bad. That's the main reason I came back."

"How did you do that?" Emma asked suddenly. "You were sent back to the Enchanted Forest, weren't you? And how did you know I was pregnant?"

Neal breathed in, ready to tell the story he had already told his dad. But as he was about to start, Charlie decided to show exactly how strong her lungs were.

"Later." he voiced, standing to pick the baby up.

After that the day started for them. Charlie was fed, burped and changed, and it took some time for the baby to fall asleep. A little after Henry woke up, already complaining he was hungry. As Neal needed to take him to get a clean change of clothes so he could go to school, he realized his talk with Emma would need to wait.

"I will come back as soon as I drop him at school." He promised, living a light kiss on Emma's temple. She bended towards him, what made him relieved. He wasn't sure exactly where they stood with their relationship in the middle of that mess.

"Are you and Mom going to get married some day?"

Neal looked down at his son, an innocent smile on his lips. Where did that come from?

"I don't know, Henry. It is too soon to ask that, I suppose."

"Too soon? Dad, you've known each other for what? Fourteen years? And Mom told me once that she fell in love with you right from the moment you guys met."

"She did?" Neal asked, a silly grin on his face. He would need to bring that up later.

They crossed a street, almost reaching the school.

"Dad, don't avoid my question."

He sounded so grown up that Neal needed to laugh.

"No rush, son. Maybe some day, huh? That's all I am giving you today."

"Ok. But promise me that I will be the first one you are going to tell when you decide. I want to help you planning the proposal."

Oh, that would be interesting, Neal thought.

As he dropped Henry off and took the subway to go back to the hospital, he distracted himself imagining proposals planned by his son. That boy's mind was something to cherish.

Neal had a break of some hours before he needed to pick his father up at the airport. He talked to Emma's doctor, who said he just wanted her to stay in the hospital another day so they could watch her after all, she did have some complications during labor.

"Charlie has just fallen asleep." Emma said as he entered the room. She sat up in bed, an eager expression on her face. "Let's use the time wisely."

Neal sat down at the chair by the bed after taking a quick look at Charlie. He started telling her about the night Snow announced her pregnancy.

"Wait!" she interrupted. " My mom is pregnant?"

"Yeah. She must be about to have the baby now."

"Wow. I may have a little brother or sister?"

"Brother."

"How do you know that?"

"Let me keep telling the story, will you?"

So he moved on to the talk he had with Belle, to the prophecy she overheard and to her interpretation of it.

"So you got a sister, I got a brother and we have a daughter." she said, confused. "Do you know how weird that sounds?"

"Weird is our middle name."

"Tell me about that. So what does the prophecy means? We are going back to the Enchanted Forest?"

"It sounds like it. I just don't know how or when."

Emma nodded distractedly. Like always, it was too much to absorb, it would take some time.

"Neal, what about your father?" she asked suddenly.

"What about him?"

"He is alive!" she stated, a shocked expression.

"That surprised me too. It looks like when he sacrificed himself to save us, he killed the Dark One, and that was all."

"So, Rumpelstiltskin is alive, but doesn't have any power?"

"Yeah. You know, I thought about bringing him back from death."

"What do you mean?"

"Back at the Enchanted Forest. I thought it would be the only way to find our ways back, with my father."

"Is it even possible to do that?"

"Yes. You just need to pay the price."

"What would be the price of a live?" she asked. Then stopped. "Oh!"

"Yeah. I am so glad I changed my mind."

"What made you change your mind?"

"Belle telling me she was pregnant. I realized that I couldn't just leave her. And when she told me about the prophecy, I was left with a terrible decision. I didn't want to leave her alone. But I also didn't want to leave you alone."

Emma breathed in deeply, staring at the bassinet where her daughter peacefully slept. So many things could have gone wrong. Rumpelstiltskin could have died for real and never found her and Henry. Neal could have never found a way back to that world. Neal could have exchanged his life for his father's.

"Are you ok?" Neal asked softly when he saw a tremor run down Emma's body.

She turned around. And kissed him.

"I am grateful that out of all this mess, you found your way back to us." she said after parting. His eyes were shining and you could notice the curious shape of blue. He smiled.

"I think I learned with your father to always find my way back to my family."

Emma smiled to that, closing her eyes.

"I miss them."


	24. How to be a family?

_You guys didn't give up on me, so I didn't give up on you. This chapter is for everybody that favorited the story, left reviews or sent messages asking about new chapters. Thank you for the continued support. Have fun with the reading!_

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><p><em><strong>24 - How to be a family?<strong>_

When Neal picked his father up at the airport, the first thing he did was hug him. He was happy. But his father's mood couldn't be more different.

Rumpelstiltskin complained about the flight. Then about the food. Then about the flight attendants.

Neal took the opportunity, when his father made a pause, to ask:

"So, do you want me to drop you off at the apartment or you will pass by the hospital?"

It was just then that it occurred to Rumple that, even if he couldn't meet his daughter, Bae had the chance to do that.

"I am so sorry, son. I've been babbling nonstop and didn't even ask about my granddaughter."

"She is beautiful. Already has me wrapped around her little finger."

The older man smiled, putting his hand in his pocket. He pulled the glass flask out.

"I wasn't successful on looking for ways to go back to the Enchanted Forest. If there is anyone that has anything that could possibly make that happen, that person is long gone. But I was successful with the memory potion."

Looking at the glass filled with the clear liquid, it hit Neal that he didn't tell his father Emma remembered everything.

"Papa... do you remember I told you about kissing Emma?"

"Yes, and she had complications after. But she is fine, and so is your daughter, right?"

"Yeah, they are. But the thing is, true love's kiss worked. She remembered."

"Oh my."

"I am sorry about all the trouble you went trough."

"It is fine. I needed to do the journey. Besides, we can give this to Henry. It looks like it is just enough for one person anyway."

**~X~**

"What are we having for dinner? Can we have chicken wings?"

"Henry, can't you carry your mom's bag?" Neal asked, trying not to shake the baby carrier too much as he fumbled for the keys.

"Where is Gold?" Emma asked, still seated at the wheelchair – requirements of the hospital.

"He is coming." Henry announced, taking the baby's bag from his mom's lap.

"Good. Papa, can you hold Charlie while I bring the car?"

"I can hold her!"

"Let your grandpa do it, Henry." Emma said, looking at Gold and realizing that the last weeks had changed the way she saw him. More than ever, he looked like a family member to her.

"How is everybody going to fit in the bug?"

"That is a good question, young man." Gold said, looking at the sleepy baby with tenderness and longing.

As Neal arrived with the car they started operation fit everybody in. Gold ended up on the passenger seat, so he would have more space for his bad leg, and Emma could go in the back seat looking after Charlie.

Neal turned on the car and once more, took a look on the rearview mirror. Henry looked sleepy, his head resting on his mom's shoulder as he watched his little sister. He was almost as tall as her now. Emma smiled at him through the mirror.

"Ok, guys. It is time to go home."

He glanced at Emma through the mirror a couple of times during the ride. He was worried about her. She seemed uncomfortable around Charlie, always asking Neal to pick her up or change her diapers. He didn't mind doing those little things, it was the first time on his life that he could actually take care of a newborn child and he was enjoying every moment. But what worried him was Emma's behavior. She didn't seem confident when holding or feeding their daughter, and it looked like she was always avoiding he contact.

They took more than twenty minutes, but they arrived at Emma's apartment. As soon as Neal opened the door, Henry ran inside, going straight to the fridge. Neal waited until Emma entered and went after her, carrying Charlie in her baby carrier, Gold being the last of the group.

"I am going to put her in the crib." he announced, knowing Emma would like some time to herself.

He entered the room they had prepared with so much care, smiling. Her baby girl was finally going to use that. As he loosened the straps that held the little body, the baby sighed. Neal brought her to his chest, feeling the warmth fill him. He loved that baby so much already. He spent some seconds like that, just holding her, before laying her down on the crib.

With the corner of his eye, he could see movement by the door, but when he turned around there was no one there. He could recognize the tall, fair figure even in the dark. Emma had been watching him.

They ended up eating pasta, something that Gold quickly put together. Henry was chatty, not having a clue about his family's worries. They had decided not to give the memory potion to him so soon, they would wait some days more. He could spent some more days oblivious to reality.

As it was getting late, Gold mentioned that he should leave. He looked at his son.

Neal looked in the direction of Emma's room, where she was resting. He wanted to help around – he felt like both Charlie and her mom needed him.

"I will stay longer, Papa." he decided.

He played video games with Henry for some time, so the boy could be distracted. Then he told his son to keep playing and went to the hallway that led to the rooms. He took a look at Charlie from the door, but she was peacefully sleeping, so he proceeded to Emma's room.

She was lying on her side, her back to the door. The covers were up all the way to her ears, so he couldn't tell if she was awake or not. The only light on was the reading light by the bedside.

He slowly entered the room.

She didn't move as he circled the bed, but, as he faced her, he saw she was awake.

And her eyes were red of crying.

"Em?" he whispered, so much worry in one syllable.

She rubbed her face, drying the wet trail the tears had made on it. She breathed in, then out. She didn't say anything.

He came closer, sitting on front of her. She looked at him, pleading eyes.

"Could you hold me?"

This was something they hadn't done in more than ten years, but he jumped right in, trying to hide his surprise and worry.

"Of course"

He lay down by her side, raising an arm so she could rest her head in his chest. She hugged him tightly, and he couldn't see her face, but he knew she was crying again. He gave her some time, many possibilities about the reason of that crisis passing through his head. He had read about depression after birth, of course, but had no idea if the symptoms resembled Emma's behavior. Was she just sad, missing her family? Maybe it was the shock of remembering everything – after all, the last months had been like a dream. The last thing she remembered before the dream was leaving Storybrooke with Henry, then she woke up with a brand new baby in her arms.

"Will you talk to me, Emma?" he tried, softly. He made circles on her back and waited.

She sniffed.

"It's ok if you don't want to, I can just stay here until you fall asleep."

She sniffed again.

"Neal, you said..." he held his breath, waiting. "you said you thought about kids back then. Did you think I could be a good mother?"

He was starting to see what the problem was. He wanted to reassure her, but he knew he should be honest.

"Back then I didn't think we could take care of plant, let alone a kid." he said, lightly. "But, in my head, we would change. Get more mature, you know? Leave that life of stealing behind and become... normal people. In that context, yes, I though we both could be good parents."

"And what do you think right now?"

"I think we are awesome parents."

She didn't say anything for some seconds. Then her voice came, low and struggled, like she had gone back to crying.

"I don't know how to do this."

"Well, you have been doing 'this' for the last year, Em."

"All this time that I had the fake memories doesn't count."

"Why is that? This is part of your life now, even if you were under the spell of fake memories."

"That was not me."

"Of course it was. It was one side of you, one side that could have come out if things had gone differently."

She raised her head now, looking at him, and the pain that was written on her face made Neal so sad.

"I gave up Henry, Neal! What kind of mother am I? I have no idea what to do with a baby! I have no idea how to be a mother!"

She restarted crying now, her breath coming in gasps and he let her cry as much as she wanted. He kept holding her, sharing his warmth, hoping that he was somehow helping.

The truth was, he knew the guilt she was feeling, the guilt of not being there for her son. But it was different than it was for him – she had a choice, a really hard choice, and she chose the best for their son. He thought that was what being a good mother meant.

After some minutes her breath rhythm lowered, and soon he was sure she was asleep. He kissed the top of her head, then, carefully put her back on her pillow. He covered her, then turned off the light. He stayed for some time in the dark bedroom, thinking about her, Charlie, Henry, and the best way to help them. He wanted so much for things to work amidst that big mess.

He knew they could work as a family. And he was going to try the hardest to make that happen.


End file.
